' 




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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Chap. Copyright No. 



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T/7. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 






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L 



THE WERNER 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL 



GEOGRAPHY 



Part I 



7 



HORACE S. TARBELL, A.M. 

SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, PROVIDENCE, R.I, 



MAV M 1«M 




6/3i' 



WERNER SCHOOL BOOK COMPANY 

NEW YORK CHICAGO BOSTON 



\ ' 



Copyright, 1896, 
By HOKACE S. TARBELL. 



\ 



(£* 



The Werner Company, Printers and Binders, Akron, Ohio. 



Electrotyped by J. 8. Cushing & Co., Norwood, Mass. 



i 



5 



PREFACE. 



The study of geography affords excellent opportunities for 
the exercise of judgment, generalization, inference, and com- 
parison. In this, the second book of the series, designed for 
the pupils who are completing a course of elementary studies, 
the special purpose has been to secure the exercise of these 
powers. This book appeals to the memory of the pupil as 
little as possible, but to his judgment as much as the material 
to be studied and the age of the pupil will warrant. 

It is evident that there are two orders of treatment of 
facts and topics of geography. We may discuss in succes- 
sive chapters "relief," "climate," "commerce," or we may 
treat of the "United States," "Brazil," "France," etc. 

By the first plan w,e gather around one topic facts from 
many regions; by the second we localize in one region facts 
pertaining to many topics. 

Each plan has its advantages and corresponding disadvan- 
tages. The first suits the mind of the adult, the second the 
mind of the youth. The first is liable to spin theories with 
no frame of place on which to hang them, the second to enu- 
merate facts with no explanations of their connections or 
reasons for their existence. The author has sought to com- 
bine the advantages and avoid the disadvantages of both plans 
by the order of the chapters of the book. 

The chapters of the book are arranged in three parts: 
3. Preparatory; 2. Descriptive; 3. General and Comparative. 

The first part contains those matters of definition, location, 
relief, climate, products, etc., which the pupil must under- 
stand in order to be prepared for the study of the main por- 

3 



4 PEE FACE. 

tion of the book, part two, which is an account of the conti- 
nents and their people. 

The third part, in some respects a review, treats in a more 
general and comparative way some of the topics of the first 
part in the light of the facts of the second part. The third 
part, while higher in grade of subject matter and broader in 
treatment than geographies for common schools have usually 
been, will, it is hoped, be found comprehensible and interest- 
ing to pupils who have studied the earlier parts. 

In accordance with modern thought, considerable attention 
is devoted to relief, that vertical dimension of the land so 
much more important than the horizontal dimensions, length 
and breadth. Yet it has not been forgotten that relief is not 
in itself of sufficient importance to the pupil to demand much 
of his time in study. It is only so far as it influences climate 
and products, the comfort and opportunities of man, that it is 
worthy of consideration. 

Climate is an element of our surroundings on which we are 
more dependent than on relief or drainage, and so it has been 
given a more prominent place. Man has been the center from 
which everything has been viewed, and objects have taken a 
perspective, large or small, as they have been near to or 
remote from human interests. The manner of life, the 
occupations of mankind, and also that % history which shows 
the influence of geographical conditions on human progress, 
have taken unusual, but it is believed not undue, space. 
Throughout the books are questions that refer to the text, 
and many others that require thought and can be answered 
only by the application of principles. Special attention has 
been given to the United States and to Europe. 

The United States, The Five Great Powers of Europe, with 
the teeming multitudes of China and Japan, are the three 
great centers of human interest at present, and of hope, or 
fear, for the future. The remaining parts of the world are 
dependencies, not indeed politically, but commercially, of 
these three centers of power and progress. This thought 
has determined to considerable degree the space given to 
the treatment of the various regions. 

But few mountains, rivers, capes, and cities are named to 



PREFACE. 5 

burden the pupil's memory with location alone. The effort 
has been to give him clear and broad views of human life in 
all important countries, that he may know the conditions that 
affect human welfare and the progress in comfort and enlight- 
enment that different countries are making. 

By making the general treatment of the United States as 
a whole and of the several sections full, it has been made 
possible to devote less space than usual to each state, and 
still to furnish in effect a comparatively full treatment of 
the several states. By this plan space is saved, and effort 
of memorizing reduced. 

The same plan has been followed in the treatment of the 
continents and the several countries therein. 

The acknowledgments made in the preface to the Introduc- 
tory Geography should be here renewed; for Hon. Orville T. 
Bright, Superintendent C. B. Gilbert, and Miss F. Lillian 
Taylor, have made valuable suggestions in reference to both 
books. 

James Baldwin, Ph.D., the well-known author of many 
books, has carefully read all the MS. of both books, and 
suggested many improvements. Henry Whittemore, super- 
intendent of schools, Waltham, Mass., has rendered the same 
valuable service for this book. 

To thesea cknowledgments, must be added here, as always, 
the recognition of the constant and intelligent services ren- 
dered me in all this work by Miss Martha Tarbell, without 
whose aid I should have had neither time not courage for 
book-making. 

The spelling of geographical names in this book is adopted 
on the authority of The United States Board of Geographic 
Names, and of the maps issued by the United States Govern- 
ment. The decisions of this Board are approved by the Eoyal 
Geographical Society of London, and will probably be adopted 
within a few years in all English-speaking countries. 

In the pronunciation, The Century Cyclopedia of Names 
has been followed. 

H. S. Tarbell. 



CONTENTS. 



I. INTRODUCTORY. 

PAGE 

Land and Water ...... 9 

A Glimpse of the World . . 12 
Revolution and Size of the 

Earth 12 

The Globe 13 

Latitude and Longittde . . 14 

Zones 15 

Land Waste 16 

Volcanoes 20 

Earthquakes 21 

Climate . . 22 

Isotherms 23 

Effect of Elevation and 

Slope 24 

The Cause of Wind .... 25 

Movement of the Winds . 27 
Movements of the Waters 

of the Ocean 29 

Rainfall 31 

Apparent Movements of the 

Sun 32 

Seasons 32 

Ice Cap 34 

Drift 37 

Plant Life 38 

Tropical Vegetation ... 39 

Subtropical Vegetation . . 41 
Vegetation of Temperate 

Zones 41 

Vegetation of Polar Re- 

.gions 41 

Distribution of Animals . . 42 
Vegetable and Animal Life 

of the Ocean 46 

Progress of Mankind ... 48 

Races 49 

Occupations 50 

Government 51 



II. DESCRIPTIVE. 

North America. 

Extent and Relief, 53; Rivers, 
54; Climate, 56. 
The United States. 

Position and Extent, 57 
Physical Features, 58 
Drainage, 59 ; Climate, 60 
Winds, 62; Rainfall, 62 
Peculiarities of Rainfall 
63; Forest Regions, 65 
Agricultural Products, 68 
Animal Products, 77 ; Min- 
eral Products, 81; Manu- 
factures, 93 ; Commerce, 
94; Lake Canals, 95; Rail- 
roads, 96 ; Growth of Cities, 
97; Cities of the United 
States,98; Government, 104. 
Geographical Influences af- 
fecting American History 
Discovery of the New World, 
Early Settlements, Growth 
of the United States. 
New England States . . . 
Middle Atlantic States . . 
Southeastern States . . . 
Southwestern States . . . 
East Central States . . . 
West Central States . . . 
Mountain and Plateau 

States 

Pacific States 150 

Polar Regions 157 

Greenland 158 

Antarctic Regions .... 160 
Dominion of Canada. 

Extent 161 

Provinces 163 



105 



114 
119 
126 
131 
134 
139 

142 



6 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Mexico 168 

Central America 171 

The West Indies 172 

Bermuda Islands 174 

South America. 

Size, Relief, and Drainage . 175 
Climate and Products . . . 177 
Inhabitants and Countries . 179 
Columbia, 180; Venezuela, 
181 ; Guiana, Equador, 182 ; 
Peru, Bolivia, 183; Brazil, 
184; Chile, 185; Argentina, 
187; Paraguay, 188; Uru- 
guay, Falkland Islands, 
189. 
Europe. 

Size, Relief, Drainage, Cli- 
mate, Products .... 191 
People, Religion, Govern- 
ment 194 

Countries of Europe . . . 197 
The British Isles, 197; The 
British Empire, 203 ; 
France, 205 ; Germany, 
209; Austria-Hungary , 213 ; 
The Balkan Peninsula, 216; 
Turkey, 217; Greece, 219; 
Italy, 221 ; Switzerland, 
226; Spain, 228; Portugal, 
232; Belgium, 233; The 
Netherlands, 234; Scandi- 
navian Countries, 237; 
Russian Empire, 242. 

Asia 251 

Asiatic Turkey, 259 ; Arabia, 
263 ; Plateau of Iran, 264 ; 



PAGE 



287 



299 
304 



India and Indo-China, 267 ; 

Chinese Empire, 274 ; 

Japan, 280; Malaysia, 283. 

Africa 

Barbary States, 293 ; Egypt, 

295 ; Southern and Western 

Africa, 297. 

Australia 

Islands of the Pacific . . . 
New Zealand, 304 ; Melanesia, 

305 ; Micronesia, 306 ; Poly- 
nesia, 306. 



III. COMPARATIVE AND 
GENERAL. 

Comparison of the Conti- 
nents 309 

Plains and Valleys .... 310 
Lakes and Rivers .... 312 
Coasts and Shores .... 313 

Islands 314 

Climate 315 

Effect of Latitude, Effect of 
Elevation, Effect of Mois- 
ture, Winds, Ocean Cur- 
rents, Rainfall, Deserts, 
Seasons, the Change of 
Seasons, Influence of Cli- 
mate on Man. 

Commerce 335 

Development of, Transporta- 
tion and Routes of Com- 
merce. 
Great Cities of the World . 340 
Growth of Continents . . . 344 



REFERENCES ON METHOD. 

King : Methods and Aids in Geography. 
Parker : How to Study Geography. 
Crocker : Methods of Teaching Geography. 
Carver : How to Teach Geography. 
Geikie : The Teaching of Geography. 
Report of Committee of Ten. 
Report of Committee of Fifteen. 
The Use of Government Maps in Schools. 
Jackson : Astronomical Geography. 
Cowham : Graphic Lessons in Geography. 



GENERAL INFORMATION. 

Spofford : The American Almanac. 
Keltie : Statesman's Year Book. 

Poems of Places, edited by H. W. Longfellow (31 vols.). 
The Magazines — particularly Harper, Scribner, and The Century. 
The Cyclopedias : The Century Cyclopedia of Names, The Encyclo- 
pedia Britannica. 

Ritter : Comparative Geography. 

Keith Johnston : Geography, Physical, Historical, and Descriptive. 

Geographic Monographs (American Book Company). 

Shaler : First Book in Geology. 

Geikie : Elementary Lessons in Physical Geography. 

Huxley : Physiography. 

Shaler : Story of Our Continent. 

Volcanoes and Earthquakes. 

Ly ell's Principles of Geology (Vol. II.). 

The Charlestown Earthquake (U.S. Geological Survey Report, 1889). 

Judd : Volcanoes. 

Hull : Volcanoes. 

Milne : Earthquakes. 

Around the World, March, 1894. 

Overland, March, 1893. 

8 



THE WERNER 
GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



-<K)>J<Oo- 



1 . Land and Water. 

Geography. — Were you to travel to some parts of the earth, 
you would find them quite different from those about your 
own home. The plants and animals would be different. The 
people would be raising different crops and cultivating the 
fields in ways you had not seen before. The mode of life, the 
language, and the manners of the people would be new and 
strange to you. Since you cannot travel over all lands to 
learn about them yourselves, would you not enjoy hearing 
about these lands from one who had visited them ? 

Men who have traveled have written accounts of what they 
have seen, and these accounts have been put together into a 
description of the earth and of the people who live upon 
it. Such a description is called geography. 

Continents. — One of the things to be learned at the very 
beginning of the study of geography is that this earth is an 
immense globe or ball. The surface of this ball is uneven 
and the hollows are filled with water. The great body of 
water on the earth is called the sea or ocean. The parts of 
the earth's surface not covered with water are called land. 
Land consists of rock and soil. The rock extends under the 
ocean as well as under the soil. 

9 



10 GBAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRASHY. 

About one-fourth of the surface of the earth is land. What 
part is water ? The land is in three large masses called conti- 
nents and many small masses called islands. 

The three continents, as you will see by the map, p. 00, are 
the Eastern Continent, the Western Continent, and Australia. 

What are the three divisions of the Eastern Continent ? 
What are the two divisions of the Western Continent? 

As these divisions are very large, they are called Grand 
Divisions. If you call Australia also a Grand Division, how 
many Grand Divisions are there ? Name them. The Grand 
Divisions are also called continents. 

Land Forms. — Lands which rise high above the level of the 
ocean are called highlands; lands not much higher than the 
ocean are called lowlands. A mass of land rising in a lofty 
peak or ridge is called a mountain. 

Highlands in long, narrow tracts make a mountain range. 
Highlands in broad tracts are plateaus. See Part II., p. 00. 

The highest part of a mountain range is called the crest. 

Two or more mountain ranges near each other and nearly 
parallel are called a mountain system. 

Hills are like mountains, but not so high. 

The lands separating hills or mountains are called val- 
leys. High valleys between mountain peaks are called 
passes. Why ? Broad tracts of land nearly level are called 
plains. 

What is the distinction between a plain and a plateau ? 

Most plains lie between mountain systems or along the 
coasts of continents and islands. 

Name all of these land forms which you have seen, and tell 
where they are. 

Oceans. — The great body of water on the earth is called the 
sea or ocean. The ocean is only one body of water, but for 
convenience certain portions of it are also called oceans. Eind 
on the map, p. 00, the five oceans. 



LAND AND WATEB. 11 

Water Forms. — -Bodies of water called lakes, lie in the hol- 
lows of the land just as the ocean lies in the great hollows of 
the rock we call the earth. 

Are lakes surrounded by land ? 

Streams of water on the land are called brooks or rivers. 
Rivers are larger than brooks. Rivers usually run through 
valleys and receive streams called tributaries from side val- 
leys. The place where a stream starts is its source, and the 
place where it joins another stream or a body of water is its 
mouth. 

What is the upper course of a river? The middle course? 
The lower course ? In which of these courses does the river 
probably run most rapidly ? 

A large river with its tributaries is called a river system, ; as, 
the Mississippi Eiver system. See map. 

All the rivers running into a large body of water are also 
called a river system. Find the Hudson Bay river system. 
See map. 

Land and Water Forms. — The land drained by a river is 
called the basin of that river. The land on either side of a 
brook or river is called the bank of the river. The bank 
on the right-hand side of one sailing down the river is the 
right bank. What is the left bank ? 

Land next to the water receives various names. If it pro- 
jects into the water, it is called a cape. If it is nearly sur- 
rounded by water, it is called a peninsula. The narrow strip 
of land connecting the peninsula to the mainland is called an 
isthmus. 

Water nearly surrounded by land is called a gulf or bay. A 
sea is a body of water nearly or quite surrounded by land. 
Seas are really lakes or bays. 

A narrow passage of water connecting two larger bodies 
of water is called a strait. Some wide straits are called chan- 
nels. 



12 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

What is geography ? How much of the earth's surface is land ? 
How much is water ? What are continents ? Islands ? Name the 
three continents. Name the six grand divisions or continents. 

What is the ocean ? What is an ocean ? Name the five oceans. 

2. A Glimpse of the World. 

Which, is the largest continent ? What continents join it ? 
What two east of it ? What one south of it ? Bound each 
continent and each ocean, first with the map before you and 
then from -memory. 

What mountain ranges are there in North America ? South 
America ? Europe ? Asia ? 

Find the British Isles. Japan. East Indies. West Indies. 
Newfoundland. Which is the largest river of North America ? 
In what country is this river ? Where is the Amazon ? In 
what country ? The Nile ? In what country ? 

Name three countries of North America. In South 
America, where is Brazil ? Chile ? Argentina ? In Africa, 
where is Egypt ? The Great Desert ? Sudan ? Cape Colony ? 
In Asia, where is India ? China ? Japan ? Siberia ? In 
Europe, where is England ? Spain ? France ? Germany ? 
Italy ? Eussia ? 

On the map of Europe find the North Sea, the Baltic, Medi- 
terranean, Black, Caspian. On the map of North America 
find the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean 
Sea. 

[Be sure that you can readily answer all the questions above. 
As you learn about new places, locate them with reference to 
places already known to you.] 

3. Revolution and Size of the Earth. 

When a top spins steadily upon a table, there are tw r o points 
on the surface of the top, one above and one below, that do 




THE GLOBE. 13 

not seem to move. These points might be called the poles of 
the top, and the line connecting them the axis of the top. 

This earth turns on its axis once in twenty-four hours, and 
the ends of its axis are called poles. The axis of the earth is 
a line through the center about which it turns, or revolves. 

What are the poles of the earth ? What are the names of 
these poles ? How far apart are they ? Let us consider what 
this question means. Does it mean how far it is through the 
earth from one pole to the other or how far around the earth 
from one pole to the other ? 

If this little circle represents the earth, and IS", shows 
the position of the north pole and S. of the south 
pole, the distance from north to south through the 
circle will be just the diameter of the circle. The di- 
ameter of a circle is the distance or the line from side 
to side through the center. The circumference of a Fig. 1. 
circle is the distance around it, or the line which goes round it. 

The circumference of the earth is 25,000 miles, and its 
diameter is 8000 miles. Now can you tell how far apart the 
poles of the earth are ? 

Twenty-five thousand miles is a very long distance. If there were a 
railroad extending quite round the world, and you should start upon it 
in a train going twenty miles an hour, it would take you nearly two 
months, traveling all the time, to go around the world. How many 
days would it be ? 

The distance around the earth is divided into 360 equal 
parts, and each part is called a degree. This is true of the 
circumference of every circle, whether large or small. 

4. The Globe. 

The earth is represented by a globe. Before, however, you 
can learn much from a globe, you must know what the lines, 
the figures, and the words upon it mean. 



14 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

There are lines running round the globe from north to 
south, and other lines from east to west. The first lines are 
called meridians, and the second parallels. 

Meridian is from the Latin word meridies, which means noon. Meridi- 
ans are noon lines, and are so called because all the places on any merid- 
ian have noon at the same time. Why are parallels so called ? 

When you know how far apart the parallels are, then you 
can tell how far north or south of each other, places on these 
parallels are. When you know how far apart the meridians 
are, then you can tell how far east or west of each other, places 
on these meridians are. The parallels and meridians enable 
you to tell where places are, and how far apart they are. 

The parallel which is just half way between the two poles 
is much more important than the others. What is the name 
of that parallel ? 

5. Latitude and Longitude. 

Distance north or south of the equator is called latitude. 
Latitude north of the equator is north latitude. What is 
south latitude ? 

The distance in degrees between the meridian cf any place 
and a meridian selected to reckon from is called longitude. 

Longitude is usually reckoned from the meridian of Green- 
wich, a town near London in England having the Royal 
Observatory. This meridian is called the first meridian. 

In the United States longitude is sometimes reckoned from the merid- 
ian of Washington, which is 77 degrees west from Greenwich. 

Longitude is reckoned east and west from the first meridian, 
just as latitude is reckoned north and south from the equator ; 
but since there are no " poles " to divide the reckoning of 
longitude, it is reckoned half way round the world in each 
direction instead of a quarter way round as latitude is. 



ZONES. 15 

What is the highest degree of longitude that a place may have ? Find 
the first meridian. Trace it north and south to the poles. 

Find 180 degrees east longitude on the equator. Find 180 degrees 
west longitude on the equator. Are the two the same ? 

Does the map of the eastern hemisphere include any west longitude? 
How many degrees of east longitude does the western hemisphere include ? 

What city is in north latitude 51° and longitude 0° ? What island is 
in latitude 0° and longitude 50° W. ? What city is nearly in latitude 
41° N. and longitude 74° W. ? What island is 50° N. and 60° W. ? 

Which way is a man traveling when he changes his latitude ? Which 
way when he changes his longitude ? Did you change your latitude or 
your longitude when you came to school this morning ? What place has 
no latitude and no longitude ? 

How many degrees are there around the earth ? How many half way 
around ? How many a quarter way around ? How many from one pole 
to the other ? From one pole to the equator ? 

What is the latitude of the equator ? What is the latitude of the 
poles ? What kind of latitude between the equator and the north pole ? 
The equator and the south pole ? 

7. Zones. 

The parallels that are twenty-three and a half degrees from 
the equator are called tropics. The tropic north of the equator 
is called the Tropic of Cancer ; the one south of the equator, 
the Tropic of Capricorn. 

The parallels twenty-three and a half degrees from the poles 
are called polar circles. The one around the north pole is called 
the Arctic Circle; the one around the south pole is called the 
Antarctic Circle. 

The belt of the earth between the two tropics is called the 
Torrid Zone. Torrid means hot, and within this belt or zone 
is the hottest part of the earth. How many degrees wide is 
the Torrid Zone ? 

Between the polar circles and the poles are the Frigid Zones. 
Frigid means cold, and these zones are the coldest parts of the 
earth. How wide are the Frigid Zones ? 



16 



GBAMMAB SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



Between the Torrid Zone and each Frigid Zone lies a Tem- 
perate Zone, not so hot as the Torrid Zone, and not so cold as 
the Frigid Zone. How wide are the Temperate Zones ? In 
which zone do we live ? 



On the map below, point out the poles, the equator, the parallels, the 
tropics, the polar circles, the torrid zone, the two frigid zones, the two 

temperate zones. Where is the north 
frigid zone ? The south temperate 
zone ? Show what parts of the world 
are in north latitude ; in south latitude. 

What countries are crossed by the 
equator ? What by the parallel of 20° 
north ? What by 40° north ? 

What countries and cities are on or 
near the meridian of New York ? Of 
Chicago ? Of London ? Of Constan- 
tinople ? 




Fig. 2. 



9. Land Waste, 



The land surface of the earth has come to its present shape 
and appearance through the action of two kinds of forces, one 
of which has raised it up, and the other worn it down. 

The wearing away of the land is going on at the present 
time. 

Work of Rivers. — Have you noticed how muddy or roily the 
water in the little streams is after a shower? Along the 
.streets and roadsides, down the hillsides, and across the mea- 
dows, pour streams of water carrying with them a great amount 
of clay or sand. 

In the larger and more rapid streams, even pebbles are 
forced along by the water. In great mountain torrents, when 
the spring freshets or the heavy rains have come, stones of 
considerable size are moved on by the rushing waters. 

Dip up a pailful of muddy water from a stream after a 



LAND WASTE. 17 

shower, and let it stand until the sediment has settled, and 
see what a quantity of mud the stream is carrying. Every 
pailful of water carries perhaps a pint or more of material 
in it. 

Think how many pailfuls run by in a minute in the streams, 
and how many pints of earth each stream carries every minute. 
Think how much this is in a day, and how much the great 
rivers must carry. 

The great river of our country, the Mississippi, carries down 
into the Gulf of Mexico a million tons a day of earthy matter 
which it and its tributaries have gathered up from its great 
basin. What a vast number of boats would be required to 
move such an amount ! 

Where does the river get the earth or soil it carries ? 

Do you not see that the river must be constantly digging 
away the soil from the upper part of its basin ? 

Look at the map and see what a large peninsula there is at 
the mouth of the Mississippi. How do you think that penin- 
sula has been made ? Do you think it is growing larger at the 
present time ? 

Has the Mississippi at its mouth a rocky bottom ? 

Some other rivers carry much more sediment than the 
Mississippi. 

The Grand Canyon of the Colorado (pp. 00-00) is a wonderful instance 
of a river cutting its bed down through solid rock. Here for 250 miles 
the river has cut its bed downward 4000 feet, or about four-fifths of a 
mile. While it has been doing this, it has carried away all the soil and 
rock of its upper basin for a mile in depth, and 500 miles in width. It is 
true it has been a long time in doing this, but rivers have been running a 
long time. 

Effect of Heat. — Heat has much to do in preparing the rock 
and soil to be taken up by water. 

During the daytime the surface of the rock becomes heated, 
and at night it cool^ Where these changes are considerable, 



18 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

they crack the surface of the rock for a little distance. Rain 
then works its way into the crevices. The water, in freezing, 
throws off particles of the rock, and, sometimes, even large 
blocks. If you go to a steep mountain side, you will find, 
lying against its foot, great masses of rock that have fallen 
down from the heights above, and are now exposed to the fur- 
ther changes to be made by heat and water. 

Effect of Acid. — Water, especially water that has some acid 
in it, dissolves some rocks very rapidly. 

The air always has in it a little acid that the rain absorbs 
and carries into the rocks, and by means of it slowly dissolves 
them. 

Mineral springs are springs whose water has an unusual 
amount of mineral matter in solution. Almost all water in 
springs and rivers has mineral matter which it has dissolved 
just as a lump of sugar is dissolved in a cup of tea. It often 
happens that dissolving one part of a substance leaves the 
other parts broken apart, and ready to be carried off by run- 
ning water. 

Alluvial Lands. — In one way or in another, water is all the 
time carrying aw^ay soil and broken-up rock toward the sea. 
All the streams are digging away the soil along their upper 
courses, and carrying it down to be left somewhere along their 
lower courses. 

When water carrying a large amount of sediment begins to 
run more slowly, some of the sediment is deposited on the 
bottom. 

When there are heavy rains or freshets from melting snows 
in the upper course of a river, the channel is often too small 
in its middle or lower course where it begins to run less rap- 
idly, to carry the great volume of water sent down to it, and 
the river overflows its banks. When it does this, the water 
spread over the flooded plains runs less rapidly than in the 
deeper channel, and some of the matter carried along is depos- 



LAND WASTE. 19 

ited upon the overflowed land. This deposit is called alluvium, 
and lands made up of it are called alluvial lands. The lands 
along rivers in their lower courses are usually alluvial lands, 
and are generally very fertile. 

As the alluvium is mostly deposited where the water begins 
to slack its rate of motion, the banks of the river sometimes 
receive a greater deposit than the boders of the plain more 
distant. This raises the banks of the stream ; and, as the bed 
of the stream rises likewise, the river, with its bed and banks, 
becomes higher than the plain through which it runs. The 
lower Mississippi is an example of this. 

Deltas. — The water that overflows the banks of such a river 
cannot get back into the channel again, but must get to the 
sea in some other way. Often the overflowing stream cuts 
away the elevated rim which forms its bank, and makes a new 
channel for a part or all of its waters. When a river has sev- 
eral outlets the land between them is called a delta. This 
name is also applied to the alluvial deposit at the mouth of a 
river. 

Bars. — When a river reaches a lake, sea, or ocean, its cur- 
rent is checked and the sediment it is carrying along is 
dropped. This fills up its mouth and makes a bar. If the 
stream enters deep water or has a very strong current, it may 
spread the sediment so much that no obstruction to its current 
is created. 

The movement of the ocean waters at a river mouth may 
be such as to prevent the formation of a delta. The waste 
material borne along may be swept out to sea and deposited 
over the bottom, or it may be borne along the shore and formed 
by waves and currents into bars parallel with the shore. Such 
is the case along the South Atlantic coast of the United States, 
where these bars are called banks. The shallow water be- 
tween them and the coast lies in long, narrow passages called 
lagoons. 



20 GRAMMAB SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

How much soil does the Mississippi Kiver carry down towards its 
mouth ? Where does it get this soil ? What is said about the Grand 
Canyon of the Colorado ? 

How do the changes of heat and cold affect the amount of matter car- 
ried down stream by rivers ? What are mineral springs ? In what part 
of their course do rivers usually run most rapidly ? What is alluvium ? 

Explain how rivers sometimes form beds higher than the plains over 
which they run. What is a delta ? What are lagoons ? 



10. Volcanoes. 

Upward Movement of Earth's Crust. — The land must have 
been raised up before it could be worn down. Some mountains 
have been raised up suddenly, but most mountain ranges have 
come to their present height by a slow and imperceptible up- 
ward movement that may be going on even now. 

Heat of Springs and Mines. — There are many proofs that 
the interior of the earth is very hot. 

There are a great many hot springs in the world, some even 
as far north as Iceland. The water of these springs has been 
heated by the rocks through which it has passed. 

Most mines, too, are hot, and, as a rule, the deeper the mine, 
the hotter it is. In some mines the heat is so great that the 
miners can work but a few minutes at a time, and some mines 
can be dug no deeper on account of the heat. From many 
observations it has been found that every sixty feet of descent 
into the earth increases the temperature one degree. 

Volcanoes. — There are several hundred places on the earth 
where there are openings from the surface downward to the 
heated interior, or at least to places below the surface where 
the heat is so great that the rocks are melted. It is supposed 
that water from the surface gets down to these lakes of tire, or 
places of excessive heat, and is expanded into steam, producing 
an explosion which sometimes throws the steam and melted 
materials high into the air, The matter thrown put through 



EABTHQUAKES. 21 

these vent holes falls back around the mouths of the holes 
and raises at length cone-shaped hills. Such a hill is called a 
volcano, and the funnel at the end of the opening through 
which the matter is thrown is called a crater. The melted 
rock is called lava. 

When an explosion occurs, the lava in the opening is first 
blown out, and ashes, hot water, steam, sand, smoke, and 
cinders as well as lava are often thrown from volcanoes. 

Lava sometimes issues from the side of a volcano as well as 
from its top. Can you explain this ? Sometimes, also, lava 
issues from cracks or fissures when no cone has been built. 

The amount of lava thrown out at an eruption is often enor- 
mous and covers many thousand square miles to a great depth. 

An active volcano is one which sometimes has eruptions. An 
extinct volcano is one that has not recently had any eruptions. 

Where Volcanoes are found. — The most famous volcanoes in 
the world are Etna in Sicily, Vesuvius near Naples in Italy, 
Hecla in Iceland, Cotopaxi and Chimborazo in South America. 
[II.-OO.] 

On p. 00 of Part II. most of the volcanoes of the world 
are indicated by red dots. Begin at Cape Horn and trace the 
line of dots around to Cape of Good Hope. You will find 
groups and lines of dots outside this volcanic belt. A noted 
volcano is Kilauea in Hawaii. Find it on the map. [II.-10.] 

Deep-sea dredging shows that volcanic waste is distributed 
very widely over the ocean floor. 

There seems to' be a connection between volcanoes and the 
ocean. There are very few active volcanoes in the interior of 
any of the continents. 

1 1. Earthquakes. 

Earthquakes are tremblings or jars of the earth's surface 
caused by some force beneath it. These jars or shocks are some- 
times so great as to shake down houses, and to cause great waves in 



22 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY, 

the ocean. Usually a deep rumbling, or sounds like cannon- 
firing underground, precede or accompany earthquakes. 

An earthquake occurring under the bed of the ocean creates immense 
waves that rush upon the shores perhaps hundreds of miles away. 

In one such earthquake, (1868) off the shore of South America ships 
were carried inland and stranded high up on the mountain sides. Which 
ocean ? What mountain ? 

Some earthquakes are caused by explosions below the surface 
that do not break through to the surface. Others are caused 
by the cracking of the layers of rock beneath the surface of 
the earth as they are pressed or bent by the up and down 
movement of the crust that is slowly going on. 

Often at the time of an earthquake the earth cracks open to 
a considerable depth. Some portion of the land may rise and 
remain higher than before. Or it may sink and remain lower, 
sometimes forming the bed of a lake. An earthquake in India 
has made a lake larger than the state of Bhode Island. 

What is a hot spring ? 

How fast, as a rule, does the heat increase as one descends into the 
earth ? What is a volcano ? What is lava ? 

Name three remarkable volcanoes. What are earthquakes ? 

12. Climate. 

By climate we mean the average weather of a place or region, 
not the weather for any particular day. 

The climate of a place is affected chiefly by three things : 
temperature, moisture, and winds. 

Climate not subject to great change is called equable. A 
climate subject to great change during the year is called severe 
or extreme. 

Land is more readily heated or cooled than water. 

In the summer is the land of the continents warmer or 



ISOTHERMS. 23 

colder than the water of the adjacent ocean? How is it in 
the winter ? We may call the climate distant from the ocean 
continental, and the climate over the ocean or on its shores 
maritime. Which kind of climate changes most during the 
year, continental climate or maritime climate ? Is the climate 
in the interior of a continent subject to great change or little 
change during the year ? 

13. Isotherms. 

If we had a record for the entire year of the thermometer 
in a great many places in different parts of the world, and 
then we should draw on a map lines connecting all places hav- 
ing an average temperature of 50 degrees, and other lines con- 
necting all the places having 60 degrees, and so on, we would 
have lines connecting the places having equal heat. These 
lines we might call " equal heat " lines, but the common name 
for them is isotherms, which means the same thing. On page 
00 of Part II. you will find a map showing some of the main 
isotherms around the world. 

Trace each isotherm from one side of the map to the other. 
Do the isotherms run directly east and west ? Would you 
expect them to do so ? Do they run more nearly east and 
west over the land or over the water ? Can you think of any 
special influence the land may have on the temperature of a 
place ? 

Notice the isotherm of 80 degrees on each side of the equa- 
tor. Between these is the hot belt. 

A climate whose average temperature is 80° to 82° is found 
only between the tropics, and is hence called a tropical or hot 
climate. One whose average temperature is 70° to 80° is a 
very warm climate, such as is usually found in the temperate 
zones near the tropics. This is called subtropical. From 50° 
to 70° is the warm temperate, and 32° to 50° the cool temperate. 



24 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



A climate whose average temperature is below 32° is called an 
arctic climate. Why? 

Find on the map the tropical belt. Trace it around the earth and 
notice what grand divisions it crosses. Do the same with the subtropi- 
cal belt. The warm temperate. The cool temperate. The arctic. 

There are many times more land north of the equator than 
south of it, and this land heats more readily than water would 
heat. From this it results that the hottest part of the earth is 

not just at the 
equator, as we 
might suppose, 
but six or seven 
hundred miles 
north of it. 
Here is a 
Flg * 3 * map showing 

the hot belt of the earth. Notice how far north of the 
equator its center lies. That the land masses of South Amer- 
ica, Africa, and Australia, draw the hot belt southward is 
evident ; and the effect of Mexico, Northern Africa, and South- 
ern Asia is equally evident. 




14. Effect of Elevation and Slope. 

The temperature falls as we ascend above sea-level. It is 
found that a difference of 300 feet in the altitude, or eleva- 
tion, of a place makes a difference of one degree in temperature. 
Hence the tops of high mountains are very cold. 

What is the average temperature at sea-level in the torrid zone ? [See 
Isotherm map.] What is the average temperature in the torrid zone of 
places 3000 feet above the sea ? Of places 6000 feet ? 12000 ? 24000 ? 

In warm climates the temperature found by one who ascends 
a mountain side varies as it does to one traveling from the 



WARM SLOPE^^^^CCLD SLOPE 



THE CAUSE OF WIND. 25 

equator toward the pole. Does vegetation vary likewise from 
the base to the summit of a mountain ? 

The direction in which the land slopes affects the tempera- 
ture. If the slope in northern latitudes is towards the south, 
the rays of the sun strike 
the land more directly, 



and hence the land is 

heated more. Flif ' 4 ' 

Is it warmer on the north side or on the south side of a hill ? 

What effect does a slope to the north have ? How does 
this affect the arctic drainage basins in all the northern 
continents ? 

REVIEW QUESTIONS. 

What is climate ? What are the three things that mainly affect 
climate? What is a mild climate ? Severe? Maritime? Continental? 

What are isotherms ? 

What is a tropical climate ? Subtropical ? Warm temperate ? Cool 
temperate ? Arctic ? Where are each of these climates found ? 

Mention the effect of elevation on climate. The effect of slope on 
climate. 

15. The Cause of Wind. 

At a bonfire the air rushes to the fire from all sides and is 
carried upward over the flames. At a great fire the inrush of 
air is so great as to make a strong wind blowing towards the 
flames from all directions, and smoke, sparks, and burning 
brands are carried upward to a great height. The fire heats 
the air and makes its lighter, and so it rises. 

Hang two thermometers in the warm school room on a cold 
day. Hang one of them as near the ceiling as you can, the 
other near the floor. Which will show the higher tempera- 
ture ? 

If on a cold day a ribbon is held near the top of the door 
in a school room, and another near the bottom and the door is 



26 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



opened, what will happen ? Where does the cold air come in, 
at the top or at the bottom of the door ? 

When the air at any place becomes heated more than the 
snrrounding air, what movements take place ? 

Yon must not think of the heated air as rising and drawing 
in the surrounding air, or that the cold air rushes in to fill the 
place which the warm air has left. W T hen one pours water 
into a jar having corks at the bottom, the water, because it is 
heavier than the corks, flows under and bears up the corks 
upon it. For the same reason heavier air flows under and 
lifts up lighter air. The main thing which you need to 
know in order to understand the causes of the movements of 
the winds is that a heavy air will force itself under a lighter 
air. 



The effect of heat in making bodies lighter, bulk for bulk, than they 
were before heating may be shown by the following experiment : 

Take a flask having a long neck, like the 
one in the figure ; fill it nearly full of water 
and apply heat. The water will rise in the 
neck of the flask. This shows that the water 
occupies more space after heating. Its weight 
remains the same. Hence a larger bulk of 
warm water weighs the same as a smaller 
bulk of cold water. Warm water weighs less 
than the same bulk of cold water. 




__Level after 
Heating. 



Level before 
Beating. 



Fig. 5. 



Why does heated air rise ? 
In the warm days, which is warmer, 
the land at the seashore or the water ? In the night which 
becomes cooler, the land or the water ? 

If the land is warmer than the water, is the air resting upon 
it lighter or heavier than that resting on the water ? In 
this case, will the air from the land move under the air 
over the water, or will the movement be in the opposite 
direction ? 



MOVEMENTS OF THE WINDS. 



27 



Study the figures below, aud tell why the air moves as the 
figures indicate. 



<- 


> 

~SEA BREEZE 

m 


DURING 


e^m 




.AND "'-<> 


THE DAY. 


= =-^ == ~ 


-^^^Ji^J^yi^X ( 


jr ^2W?Zi 


'%ZZ%Z%sy0%^' l 


^■r^g^ 


'%%%%%%%&■ 


AND •#■ 


~ LAND BREEZE 


DURING 


THE NIGHT. 


1 



Fig. 6. 



16. Movement of the Winds. 

Trade Winds. — Where is the heated region of the earth ? 
The wind for a certain distance from the equator blows toward 
this hot belt throughout the year. These winds are called 
trade winds. 

From the figure below you can see their direction over the 
Atlantic Ocean. Over the Pacific Ocean their course is the same. 




Fig. 7. 

Calm Belts. — There are three calm belts, or regions of little 
wind, extending across the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. 



28 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



One is near the equator, the others are about 30° on each side 
of the equator. The latter are called the Calms of Cancer and 
the Calms of Capricorn, because not far from these circles. 

Variable Winds. — Between the Calms of Cancer and the 
Arctic circle, and between the Calms of Capricorn and the 
Antarctic circle are two great regions of variable, or frequently 
changing, winds. Though these winds are said to be varia- 
ble, they blow toward the east more steadily than in any other 
direction. 

Name the prevailing winds in order from the Arctic Circle 
to the Antarctic. 




Fig. 8. 



Moonsoons. — Because the Indian Ocean has large land 
masses on three sides, its winds are different from those of 
the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. 

When the sun is north of the equator, the land of Asia 
south of the Himalaya Mountains becomes so intensely heated 
as to be much warmer than the Indian Ocean. How does the 
slope affect the temperature ? The wind, therefore, from the 
Indian Ocean blows toward the land. See Fig. 12. This con- 
tinues for about five months until the sun passes south of the 



MOVEMENTS OF THE WATER OF THE OCEAN. 



29 



equator, and the interiors of Africa and Australia become the 
most highly heated parts of that region. Then the wind shifts 
and blows from a portion of Asia and of the Indian Ocean over 
Africa, and from another portion of these regions over Aus- 
tralia. See Fig. 13. 

These winds are called Monsoons. They are much like the 
trade winds, except that they reverse their direction every 
half-year. 




Fig. 9. 

What is the chief cause of winds ? Explain the movement of the air 
when there is a large fire out of doors. Explain the movement of the air 
through a stove when the fire burns briskly. 

How many calm belts are there on the earth ? What are trade winds ? 
In what direction do they blow ? What is the general direction of the 
winds in the cool temperate zones ? 

What are monsoons ? 



15. Movements of the Waters of the Ocean. 

There are three movements of the waters of the ocean: 
waves, tides, and currents. 

Waves. — Waves are moving ridges of water caused chiefly 
by the pressure of the wind. 



30 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

Tides. — On the ocean shore the waters rise and fall every 
few hours. At one time they are high and cover the rocks, or 
come far np on the beach ; in a few hours they are low, and the 
rocks are bare. This regular rising and falling of the water is 
called tide. 

From high tide to low tide is a little more than six hours. 
The difference in height between high tide and low tide is not 
more than three or four feet in the middle of the ocean, but on 
the eastern shores of the continents it is sometimes many feet. 

Where the shape of the shores is such as to force the waters 
into narrower space as the tide moves up the bay or river, the 
tide necessarily becomes higher the further inland it goes. 

The Bay of Fundy is one of the largest bays on the Atlantic coast of 
America, and is noted for its high tides. The great mass of water of 
the tide finds its channel narrowing as it moves up the bay between Maine 
and Nova Scotia. In order that the narrower part of the bay may hold 
as much water as the wider part, the water must be deeper. So by the 
time the tide-wave has reached St. John, the tide rises about thirty feet ; 
and, at the head of the bay, instead of rising gradually, it advances in 
a foaming roller, called a "bore, 1 ' six feet in height. At the end of six 
hours, when the crest of the tidal wave has come, the water has risen 
sixty or seventy feet. 

Tides are caused mainly by the attraction of the moon. They 
move westward around the earth as the sun and the moon do. 
They rise each day about one half hour later than on the pre- 
ceding day. The sun exerts an influence on the tides a little 
more than half as great as that of the moon. 

In the open sea the water simply rises and falls, but in nar- 
row channels it makes a forward and a backward current. 
These currents are, in many places, of great value; for they 
prevent the formation of bars at the mouths of rivers. They 
also help carry ships' inland to cities with good harbors, and out 
to sea again when ready for another voyage. 

Most rivers into which the tide passes to a considerable dis- 



BAINFALL. 31 

tance have wide mouths. Does the movement of the tide tend 
to make these mouths wider ? 

The part of a river up and down which the tide flows is 
called an estuary. Is a place near the head of an estuary often 
a good location for a city ? Why ? 

Currents. The Gulf Stream. — From the Gulf of Mexico 
there pours out through the Straits of Florida a great stream 
of warm water that continues its course northeast across the 
Atlantic Ocean, and on into the Arctic Ocean. This current 
warms and fills with moisture the winds that blow over it, 
and so makes the climate of Western Europe and of the 
British Isles much more warm and cloudy than it would other- 
wise be. This stream is called the Gulf Stream. 

Japan Current. — A similar warm current crosses the Pacific 
Ocean from Japan to the western coasts of North America, 
and has a similar influence on the climate from San Francisco 
northward to Bering Strait. This is called the Japan Current. 
(See Map 000.) 

What are the three movements of the waters of the ocean ? How 
often does the tide rise ? Under what conditions does it rise very high ? 

What influence have the tides on river mouths ? On which side of the 
continents is there the greatest tide ? 

How high are the tides on the shores of islands in the middle of the 
ocean ? Describe the Gulf Stream ; the Japan Current. 

16. Rainfall. 

The rain falls from the clouds. The clouds contain the 
water that has been evaporated from the surface of the land 
and of the water. Because the evaporation from the ocean 
and lakes is greater than from the land, there is more rain 
on the ocean and on the land near the ocean than elsewhere. 

You learned that the trade winds blow toward the hot belt 
of the world. They sweep the clouds along to this region 



32 GBAMMAB SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

Here is the place of greatest rainfall. The islands and the 
eastern coasts of the continents within the hot belt are the 
parts of the world having most rain. 

Wherever a warm moist wind strikes land cooler than itself, 
there is a heavy rainfall. 

Think of what you have learned about the general direction 
of the winds in different parts of the world, and decide where 
there is much rainfall. Consult the rainfall map in Part II. 
to see if you are right. 

REFERENCES. 

Tyndall : The Forms of Water. 
Trotter *. Lessons in the New Geography. 
Tarr : Elementary Physical Geography. 
Cowham : Graphic Lessons in Geography. 

17. Apparent Movements of the Sun. 

To us in this country the sun is never just overhead, but to 
people further south near the equator it is. To places on the 
equator the sun is overhead at noon on the 21st of March, and 
each day thereafter it comes overhead at noon to places farther 
north until the 21st day of June, when it is overhead at the 
Tropic of Cancer. After this it goes south, that is, is over- 
head at noon to places farther and farther south until the 
22d of September, when it is said to cross the equator. It 
goes further south each day until the 21st day of December, 
when it is overhead at the Tropic of Capricorn. Then it turns 
and comes north again. 

18. Seasons. 

We live in the north temperate zone, and we have four 
seasons : spring, summer, autumn, winter. 

Between the tropics the sun is always nearly overhead, 
hence there is little difference in temperature during the year. 



SEASONS. 33 

The equatorial rain-belt, in which the rainfall is nearly 
constant, shifts with the sun toward the north as the sun 
approaches the Tropic of Cancer, and toward the south as the 
sun moves to the southern tropic. As this vast belt swings 
across the torrid zone, it produces a wet season for the lands 
over which it passes. In the region it has passed is a dry season. 

When is the wet season at the Tropic of Cancer ? At the 
Tropic of Capricorn ? Is the wet season the warm season or 
the cold ? 

As this rain-belt swings across the equator twice each year, 
there are near the equator two wet seasons and two dry seasons 
each year. The wet seasons there come at the time of our 
spring and fall, and the dry seasons at the time of our summer 
and winter. 

In Arctic and Antarctic regions, spring and autumn are 
extremely short, and there are in effect but two seasons, — a 
long, cold winter and a short, dry summer ; and, of course, 
this is nearly true of the colder portions of the temperate 
zones. So it is only in the middle portions of the temperate 
zones that four distinct seasons are to be found. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS. 

Describe the apparent motions of the sun north and south. 

Do the seasons of the torrid zone differ mainly in respect to heat or to 
moisture ? Is this true as to the seasons of the temperate zones ? 

What parts of the earth have four seasons ? What have two seasons ? 
What can you say of the seasons in countries near the equator? 

We have onr summer when the sun is farthest north, and people south 
of the equator have their summer when the sun is farthest south. In 
what months is it summer in the south temperate zone ? In what months 
is it winter in the south temperate zone ? 

REFERENCES. 

Steele : Astronomy. 

Crocker : Methods of Teaching Geography. 

Jackson : Astronomical Geography. 



34 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



19. Ice Cap. 

Did you ever think what would result if the snow, which in 
most parts of our country falls every winter, did not all melt 
away each year? 

Should the climate of this country grow colder so that the 
snow of each winter melted away in the summer only on the 
lower plains and in the broad valleys, while upon the hills and 
mountains it melted only in part, then upon the uplands the 
snow would grow deeper and deeper year after year. 

As the ice and snow accumulated upon the mountains, great 
masses would sometimes break away and roll or slide down 

into the valleys be- 
low. Such falling 
masses of snow and 
ice are called ava- 
lanches. 

Should the cli- 
mate of this coun- 
try grow cold 
enough, the melted 
snow that in warm 
days ran into the valleys would freeze into long ice rivers 
called glaciers. 

These ice rivers expand in the daytime by the warmth of 
the sun, and hence lengthen out, or stretch themselves down the 
valley. As they contract at night, the upper part of the river 
is pulled downward. Thus the river creeps downward a foot 
or two every warm day. As it moves along, rocks fall upon it 
from the sides of the mountain, and some of these rocks work 
downward through the cracks in the ice until they come to the 
bottom. After a while the bottom of the ice river is set with 
rocks, so that it becomes rough like an immense file, scraping 
along a foot or two a day, year after year. Think what a 




Muir Glacier, Alaska. 



ICE CAP. 35 

tremendous pressure there is on this rile from the weight of 
the ice, hundreds and perhaps thousands of feet thick above it. 
The rocks beneath such a great file are partly broken into 
boulders. Some of the boulders are broken into pebbles, and 
a great part of the pebbles are ground into sand, and all are 
mingled together and moved on toward the lower end of the 
glacier. 

In this way the soils containing rounded stones and boulders 
have been made. 

Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, and Alaska, are countries 
whose climate is warm enough to melt the annual snow-fall at 




An Iceberg from Greenland. 

the lower levels, but not at the higher points in the mountains. 
These are the lands of the glacier and avalanche. 

If the climate of our country should become colder still than 
we have supposed, so that in the lower valleys and on the 
broad plains only a part of the snow and ice of the winter 
melted each summer, then the rivers and lakes would be cov- 
ered with ice and snow, and the waters would run beneath 
or cease to run, because frozen solid. 

Still it would be warmer in the lower levels than upon the 
mountains, and the avalanches and glaciers would carry the 



36 



GBAMMAB SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



snow downward as before, until the valleys become rilled and 
the whole country become covered with a great ice field. Can 
you imagine the desolation of such an ice field ? 

It would be colder inland than toward the sea. The snow 
would, therefore, accumulate faster inland than at the shores, 
making the surface slope downward toward the sea. From 
the center the great ice cap would work outward toward the 
sea and break off in icebergs. Such a land is Greenland at 
the present time. In the short, hot summer season its great 




Fig. 10. 



ice sheet is full of cracks and crevices, and streams of water 
flow into these crevices and under the ice to the ocean. 

Geologists think that this Greenland ice cap, much thicker 
than now, once stretched across Baffin Bay, Hudson Bay, 
Canada and the Great Lakes ; or, that starting from the Lau- 
rentian Mountains, it stretched southward over the northern 
part of the United States about as far as the Ohio and Missouri 
rivers. The line which marks what is supposed to have been 
the point of farthest extension of this ice field is shown upon 
the map. This line is called the drift line. Along this line 
are found rounded gravel hills, long banks of earth, and un- 
drained hollows, usually of small size. 



DBIFT. 37 

REFERENCES. 

Cbolts : Climate and Time. 
Wright : Man and the Glacial Period. 
Geikie : The Great Ice Age. 
Science, Nov., 1895: Glacial Phenomena. 

American Journal of Science, Feb., 1895 : Newfoundland, Labra- 
dor, etc. 

Nature, June, 1895 : Kecent Glacial Studies in Greenland. 
Nature, Oct., 1895: Cause of the Ice Age. 

20. Drift. 

South of the drift line, the soil has been formed where it 
now lies, by the decay or breaking up of the rock by the action 
upon it of air and water ; or, after having been so formed, it 
has been carried by running water to its present place. The 
soil, then, except in the alluvial valleys, is like the rock 
beneath it. 

North of the drift line, the soil shows the marks of the great 
pressure and of the grinding to which it was subjected, and the 
bed rocks show frequent scratches or grooves made by heavily 
weighted stones pushed across them. The soil and the stones 
in it and upon it show that they have been moved from some 
point north of them, and are a mixture from various sources. 
Such soil is usually quite stony, and clearing away the stones 
to make the ground ready for crops is often a great labor. 

Such a soil is hard to cultivate, and is better adapted to 
grazing than tillage. In the valleys of alluvial soil, the ground 
is easily worked and very fertile. 

Where only may we expect to find good market gardens north of the 
" drift line"? 

If the soil of New Jersey were drift soil, would it be a land of gardens ? 

In what part of the country may you expect to find walls of stone built 
for fences ? 

What part of the land covered by drift has lakes, not mountains, north 
of it ? Does this make a difference in the stoniness of the soil ? 



38 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



21. Plant Life. 

On page 00 of Part II. is a map which shows you where 
certain plants originated. As you study each plant named 
on this and other pages, turn to that map and learn where 
was its native home. 

Plants require a good soil with sufficient warmth and mois- 
ture in order to thrive well. The regions of the earth toward 

the poles are too cold for 
the growth of vegetation, 
and regions that have 
sufficient warmth are often 
too dry for vegetation, so 
that only certain favored 
regions, chiefly those occu- 
pied by strong and pros- 
perous peoples, are well 
adapted to support valua- 
ble kinds of plants. 

The nature of the soil 
may favor the growth of 
certain kinds of vege- 
tation in preference to 

Palm and Pine. Others. 

In Southern Russia there is a striking example of this. North of the 
Black Sea the soil, made of mould, is covered with forests or produces 
excellent grains. But in the neighborhood of the Volga in the southeast, 
the earth, sandy and salt, is covered only by a kind of short and tough 
herb. 

The trees of the different zones vary greatly in shape and 
appearance. The palm trees of the tropics have long, bare, 
elastic trunks that bend unharmed before hurricanes which 
would tear a tough oak or pine tree out by its roots. The wide- 
spreading tops of the palm trees with their immense leaves 




TROPICAL VEGETATION. 39 

would be crushed and broken by the weight of snow, if they 
grew in the northern part of our country ; but the snow falls 
off quickly from the conical pines of the north with their 
drooping branches and needle-like leaves. 

22. Tropical Vegetation. 

1. Tropical Forests. — In the equatorial regions of Central 
and South America, Africa, India, Malaysia, and Northern 
Australia, there are luxuriant forests with immense trees 
along the shores of the seas, the borders of the rivers, and the 
lower slopes of the mountains. 

These trees are green throughout the year, for the new 
leaves grow before the old ones fall. 

The branches of these trees begin far up on the trunks, for the trees 
grow so closely together that their boughs form a network through which 
but little light passes, and the leaves are forced to seek the light far above. 
These leaves are large, glossy, and of rich color. In the darkness beneath 
this tapestry of foliage gigantic vines usually twine around the tree- 
trunks and pass from branch to branch, and with the dense under- 
growth render travel almost impossible. 

A great variety of trees nourishes in these forests. Palms 
are the characteristic trees, and they are found in very great 
diversity. 

There are found the cocoa tree, the banana tree with its 
sheathed trunk and long, oval leaves, the bamboo tree consist- 
ing of successive, hollow cylinders, the mangrove, the mahog- 
any, the rosewood, and the teak. The fern, which in our 
country is only a low plant without flowers or fruit, there 
becomes a large tree. 

2. Savannas. — In the dry, but not arid, portions of the 
torrid zone savannas take the place of forests. These are 
plains far from rivers and seas, where a part of the year it is 
quite dry and at another season moist. Vegetation on these 



40 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 




The Yucca. 



plains is less thick than in the forest regions. The fields 

with their tall grasses are more open. 
The trees grow singly or in thickets, 
and have large trunks with roots 
striking deep to get moisture. The 
leaves are small, that the evaporation 
may be slight. 

Savannas quite dry, like those of 
Mexico, Central Africa, Central In- 
dia, bear characteristic shrubs. The 
cacti are usually trunks without 
branches, bristling with prickles. 
The long leaves of the aloes and 
the agaves contain an abundant sap 
to sustain the tree through periods 

of drought. The yucca has pointed, bristling leaves. 

3. Tropical Deserts. — In the 
tropics, far from the sea, or where 
mountains keep off the rain, there 
are regions where the sky remains 
always scorching and the atmos- 
phere dry. Ko vegetation grows 
on the bare rocks and shifting 
sands, except where subterranean 
waters, flowing near the surface, 
moisten the earth, so that there 
are fertile places, or oases, of date 
palms. 

4. Food Plants. — The food 
plants of tropical regions are 
dates, bananas, breadfruit, coffee, 
cocoa, spices, sugar-cane, rice, 
Cotton is also cultivated in these 
regions. See p. 00. 




VEGETATION. 41 

23. Subtropical Vegetation. 

Farther away from the equator, or up the mountain sides, 
where the climate is subtropical, there is found a different 
vegetation. Some of the same kinds of trees are found as in 
tropical regions, but they are smaller in size ; and along with 
them are magnolias, olives, gigantic pines, sequoias and cedars, 
myrtles and oleanders, orange and fig trees. 

California, Chile, the basin of the Mediterranean, China, and 
Japan have this kind of forest growths. Think whether these 
countries have much the same climate. 

Food Plants. — The food plants of subtropical and warm 
temperate regions are corn, rice, sugar-cane, tea, cocoanuts, 
olives, oranges, lemons, figs, pineapples, plums, peaches, grapes. 
Tobacco is also cultivated. See p. 00. 

24. Vegetation of Temperate Zones. 

Farther north, the cold of winter causes an entirely different 
tree growth from that of the tropics. This is the case in the 
greater portion of the United States, Central and Western 
Europe, Southern Africa, and the Pacific islands in the south 
temperate zone. 

The trees are deciduous ; their leaves, small and of a tender 
green, fall in autumn at the approach of cold weather, to re- 
appear with the returning warmth of spring. Here grow the 
oak, ash, chestnut, walnut, maple, beech, elm. 

Food Plants. — Food plants of the cool temperate region are 
corn, wheat, potatoes, rye, barley, oats, apples, pears, grapes. 
See p. 00. 

25. Vegetation of Polar Regions. 

What have you learned about the temperature nearer the 
Arctic Circle ? In favored situations on the western coasts of 



42 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

America and of Europe, are forests of fir trees, birch, and 
aspen; but away from the warm, moist, west winds, in the 
dry and cold interiors, the tree life dwindles into shrubs and 
stunted trees. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS. 

Find on the map and globe the dense forest regions of the world. 
Why are these regions adapted to produce dense forests ? Do the leaves 
fall in these forests ? 

Find the part of the world in which you live. What trees grow in this 
part of the country ? How many of them do you know ? 

What are savannas ? Where are they found ? 

REFERENCES. 

Tarr: Elementary Physical Geography. 
Chisholm : Handbook of Commercial Geography. 
Cowham : Graphic Lessons in Geography. 
Tilden : A Commercial Geography. 



26. Distribution of Animals. 

Study the map 011 the opposite page, and notice the limits 
of each of the six regions into which the earth is there 
divided. Each of these regions has animals which are not 
found in all the other regions. 

The North American Region. — In the far northern part of 
this continent are found the polar bear and musk ox and rein- 
deer, but the animal life is chiefly confined to the sea. There 
the seal, walrus, and whale live. In the rivers farther south 
are otters and beavers, and on the land are animals clothed 
in thick fur, as the martens, ermines, raccoons, minks, and 
squirrels. 

Among the large wild animals of North America are the 
bisons, often called the buffaloes, which once roamed over the 
central plain, but are now diminished to only a few small 



DISTRIBUTION OF ANIMALS. 



43 



herds ; the elk or moose deer of British America ; the black 
bear ; the grizzly bear, — the strongest and fiercest of bears, — 
found only in the western highlands of North America; the 
wolf, fox, panther, lynx. 

In the inhabited portion of North America the wild animals 
have disappeared with the clearing of the forests, and domestic 
animals, horses, cattle, sheep, and swine have been intro- 
duced. 

Turtles, toads, and frogs abound everywhere, and alligators 
in the rivers of the South. 




Fig. 11. 



There are about seven hundred species of birds. How 
many can you name ? 

Northern Afeurasia Region. — What are the southern limits 
of this region? For an explanation of the word Afeurasia, 
see p. 000. 

Here the animals are like those of North America, except 
that the bison, grizzly bear, musk ox, raccoon, and prairie-dog 
are not found here. Instead are found badgers, musk deer, 
wild goats and sheep, the chamois and ibex of the Alps, the 



44 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

wild ass, wild boar, wild two-humped camel and wild yak of 
Central Asia, and the camel of the Sahara Desert. 

South American Region. — This region includes also Central 
America and a part of Mexico. Here there is a greater variety 
of animals than in any other region, as well as a greater num- 
ber of animals found nowhere else. 

The jaguar, which somewhat resembles a tiger, is the fiercest 
animal. Pumas or American lions, tapirs, peccaries or wild 
hogs, armadilloes, ant-eaters, and long-tailed monkeys are very 
numerous. The llama, the alpaca, and the vicuna of the 
Andes are valuable for their long, silky wool ; these animals 
as well as the guanaco of the plains have been domesticated 
by the native Indians and used as beasts of burden. 

Immense herds of horses, cattle, and sheep are reared. 

Serpents, lizards, and alligators thrive in this region, and 
insects of most brilliant hue, magnificent beetles and butter- 
flies, surpass those of other regions. 

The rhea, or American ostrich, is the largest of the birds. The 
largest flying bird in the world, the condor, lives in the Andes 
Mountains. Most of the birds are strikingly beautiful. The 
humming birds, which are found only in the western hemis- 
phere, exist in great variety in South America. 

The African Region Among the animals of the African 

region are very few of those in the Afeurasian region. 

The swift-footed and curiously striped zebra and quagga, the 
huge hippopotamus, the giraffe, the tallest of animals, are ani- 
mals peculiar to Africa. The lemur is an animal not found in 
Africa, but confined to the island of Madagascar. 

The elephant and rhinoceros are found throughout tropical 
Africa, and also in the oriental region, but they differ in species 
in the two regions. 

Herds of antelopes frequent the plains and deserts. 

The flesh-eating animals are the African lion, the leopard, 
the panther, the hyaena, and the jackal. Apes, gorillas, — 



DISTRIBUTION OF ANIMALS. 45 

manlike in structure and of great ferocity, — chimpanzees, and 
baboons are very common. 

The colonies have introduced the domesticated animals of 
Europe and America. 

The crocodile lives in the Nile and other rivers, and huge 
pythons in some of the tropical forests. Centipedes, scorpions, 
and other poisonous creatures endanger human life, and the 
bite of the tsetse fly, which is found in Southeastern Africa, 
is deadly to horses, cattle, and sheep. 

The ostrich is a native of Africa. Some of the birds have 
brilliant plumage, among them the many kinds of parrots, the 
ibis, and flamingo. 

The Oriental Region. — To this region belong the bears, foxes, 
and deer of the Afeurasian region ; lions, leopards, rhinoceroses, 
and elephants nearly like those of the African region ; lemurs 
resembling those of Madagascar ; and tapirs resembling those 
of South America. The tiger is found only in this region, 
and Borneo is the home of the orang-outang, the most manlike 
of all the monkey tribe. Crocodiles and snakes, squirrels, 
mice, and bats, parrots, peacocks, and pheasants live here in 
large numbers. 

Tamed elephants, camels, and buffaloes are useful beasts of 
burden. 

The Australian Region. — The emigration of land animals to 
Australia from the other continents has been prevented by 
the deep seas which surround this island continent, and its 
animal life, like its vegetation, differs from that elsewhere. 
Here, and on the adjacent islands, are the marsupials, those 
animals which have a pouch in which their young are car- 
ried. The kangaroo is the most interesting of this class. 
The opossum of America is the only marsupial outside of this 
region. The echidna, a quill-covered animal that lies tor- 
pid in the winter like a reptile and feeds on insects in sum- 
mer, and the duck-bill, a little, hairy, quadruped having webbed 



46 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

feet and a broad bill like a duck, are strange animals. Nearly 
the only beasts of prey are the dingo, a kind of wild dog, and 
the Tasmanian wolf. Reptiles are numerous and venomous. 

There are many peculiar birds in Australia, among them the 
apteryx, a bird about as large as a hen, with feathers that look 
like hair, and parrots and cockatoos which are unlike those 
found elsewhere. Nowhere else do birds have such gorgeous 
plumage as the lyre birds and the various kinds of birds of 
paradise. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS. 

What illustration can you give of animal life depending on climate and 
vegetation ? 

Name the six regions of the world having in all parts nearly the sam e 
animals, but differing from the other regions. 

Name the more important animals of each region. 

REFERENCES. 

McLaughlin Brothers : Little Folks Menagerie (10 cts.). 

Beddard : Zoogeography. 

Co wham : Graphic Lessons in Geography. 

27. Vegetable and Animal Life of the Ocean. 

The only vegetation of the ocean is the algae or sea-weeds. 
These are nowerless plants, as are the lichens, mosses, ferns, 
and mushrooms that grow on land. In mid-ocean these sea- 
weeds have long steins and pale leaves, but the Sargasso 
Seas, where the heat is greater and the light penetrates the 
water to a greater depth, are filled with seaweed having brown 
or green ribbon-like leaves, sometimes two hundred yards in 
length. Find the Sargasso Seas on p. 000 of Part II. 

Animals live in the ocean at all depths, and they vary in size 
from the minute creatures that can be seen only under a power- 
ful microscope to the gigantic whale, sometimes eighty feet in 
length. 



ANIMAL LIFE OF THE OCEAN. 



47 




Sea-Anemones. 



The sea is not always green or blue. In some parts of the 
ocean the waves appear perfectly black ; in places off the coast 
of Africa they are white ; the Eed Sea receives its name from 
the color of its water. These different colors are usually due 
to the presence in the water of immense numbers of microscopic 
animals which give their color to the water. Sometimes these 
tiny creatures glow like fire when they are stirred by a passing 
vessel, and the water is then said 
to be phosphorescent. 

The bottom of the ocean is often 
very gay, with its branching corals, 
brilliant sponges, violet and crim- 
son jelly fishes, and the bright 

sea-anemones. Although these sea-anemones are called the 
ocean flowers, yet they belong to a low order of animal life. 
They grow on stalks attached to rocks, but they can move 
very slowly. If touched, they lose their brilliant colors and 
shrink to an ugly, jelly-like mass. 

The sponges which we use are the 
skeletons of animals. They grow on 
rocks on the ocean bed, and are cut 
off by divers, but cheaper qualities 
are dragged up by tongs or rakes 
somewhat like those used in oyster 
fishing. 

Most of the best sponges come from 
the eastern part of the Mediterra- 
nean. The quality of the sponges 
from the West Indies is not so good. 
Other animals of the sea are mol- 
luscs, or soft-shell animals like the 
devil fish, and jointed animals like the 
lobster. Of the back-boned animals there are fishes, reptiles, 
birds and mammals. The sharks are the largest of the fishes, 




Coral Sponge. 



48 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

some kinds being thirty feet or more in length. There are no 
frog-like animals in the ocean. The largest animals of the 
sea are the seals and walruses, the porpoises and whales. 

The birds of the sea equal in number those of the land. 
Every rock and cliff, every uninhabited island, swarms with 
them. The albatross, the petrel, the gull, and others spend 
most of their life at sea, rarely visiting the land. 

The albatross, called the monarch of the sea, is about the size of the 
condor, and is the largest sea-bird. Its home is the Western Pacific and 
the southern oceans. 

REFERENCES. 

Tark : Elementary Physical Geography. 
Shaler : Land and Sea. 
Chatauquan, February, 1894. 

28. Progress of Mankind. 

The various peoples existing on the earth present different 
degrees of development and progress. History tells us that 
the nations now the most advanced have passed through the 
lower stages to the highest one ; the peoples now the most 
rude and ignorant have not left the first stage. 

There are three degrees of progress to be distinguished in 
the growth of nations : first, savage life ; second, barbarous 
life ; third, civilized life. 

1. Savage life is that of a people who have little intelli- 
gence ; whose food is wild game, fish or fruits which the earth 
produces without cultivation ; whose homes are in caves or in 
rude temporary huts. 

2. Barbarous life is a step in advance from savage life. It 
is the life of a people who obtain from herds of animals, milk 
and meat for nourishment and wool for clothing; who are 
joined into tribes under a ruling chief; and who wander from 
place to place in search of pasturage for their herds, like the 
Arabs in Asia at the present day. 



RACES. 49 

3. Civilized life is characterized by fixed homes. It is the 
life of intelligent, prosperous, and cultivated people. 

29. Races. 

There are three chief types, or races of men : the white, or 
Caucasian ; the black, or Ethiopian ; and the yellow, or Mon- 
golian. Although there is great diversity among those belong, 
ing to each race, yet the races are very distinct one from 
another. 

The people of the white race are distinguished by their 
white color, whether of darker or lighter shade, wavy hair, and 
narrow nose; those of the black race by their black color, 
crinkled hair, and broad nose; those of the yellow race by 
their yellow color, straight hair, and medium sized nose. 

Look at the pictures of people of the black race upon p. 00, Part II. 
What can you say as to their skull, mouth, lips, stature ? Turn to p. 00 
of Part II., and study the appearance of the people of the yellow race. 
What can you say as to their skull, face, cheek-bones, eyes, and stature ? 
Then examine the representatives of the white race (pp. 00, 00), and see 
how different all are from those of the yellow and black races. 

From the map (p. 00) tell where each race is found. 

There are also two secondary races, the Brown and the Eed, 
which possess in different degrees a mixture of the physical 
characteristics common to the chief races. 

The most cultivated of the brown race are the Javanese 
(p. 00), and of the red race the Indians of Indian Territory 
and of Mexico (p. 00). The greater part of these secondary 
races are savage tribes. 

REFERENCES. 

Trotter : Lessons on the New Geography. 

Keltie : Applied Geography. 

Andrews : Ten Boys Who Lived on the Road from Long Ago to 

Now. 



50 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



30. Occupations. 

" The whole wealth of the world has been created by the union of 
human industry with the materials which God had originally spread 
around us." — Dr. Wayland. 

Those who gather the materials of wealth obtain them from 
the land or the sea ; from the land by farming and mining, 
from the sea by fishing. 

Food, clothing, and houses are necessities for all people. The savage 
is content with irregular supplies of food, clothing scanty and untidy, and 
houses that have very few comforts in them. But as man grows more 
civilized his wants increase. He plans for future Deeds ; refinements and 
luxuries become attractive to him. For these he must labor. All these 

things come to every one of us 
only because some one has 
labored for them. 

The chief industry of 
civilized men is agricul- 
ture, which is raising crops 
upon the land; cattle- 
raising and gardening are 
forms of agriculture. 

Mining is another great 
industry. From the mines 
come our coal and iron, 
gold and silver, copper 
and lead. 




Getting out the Ore. 



Manufacturing employs many people. 

Fishing is in some places an important industry. 

Lumbering is the industry which provides us with lumber, 
timber, and wood. 

Transportation, which is carrying goods or people from one 
place to another, furnishes employment for many people. 

Commerce, or buying and selling goods, is a source of wealth 



GOVERNMENT. 



51 




and comfort. The more wealthy and the more civilized a 
nation, the greater the amonnt of commerce it carries on. 

A man who buys and sells goods is a trader or merchant. 
We say he is en- 
gaged in trade 
and handles mer- 
chandise. If he 
buys or sells the 
goods or merchan- 
dise made in his 
own country, he is 
in domestic trade 
or commerce. If 
he buys or sells 
goods abroad, he 

is in foreign Lumber Camp, Head Waters, Aroostook. 

trade. If he sends goods out of the country to sell, he exports 
them. If he brings in goods from other countries, he imports 
them. Exporting and importing are two forms of foreign 
commerce. 

31. Government. 

If people live together, they must have regulations which 
will prevent them from molesting one another. There must be 
some one to protect the weak and restrain wrong-doers. What- 
ever is done to provide for the common welfare, whether it be 
to make roads for travel or to provide for defense against other 
people, some one must plan and direct this work. 

The people of a savage or of a barbarous tribe are ruled 
over by one man, a chief, who is chosen for his great strength 
and courage, for he must lead them in their wars. 

Civilized nations need other qualities than these in their 
rulers. Laws must be made and enforced, and many officers 
are needed to carry on the government. 



52 GBAMMAB SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

Countries in which the people have a right to select their 
own rulers are called republics. The United States is a 
republic. 

A Monarchy is a nation whose chief ruler, instead of being 
chosen by the people, succeeds to power because his father or 
other near relative ruled before him. England, Germany, 
Spain, Turkey, Russia, China, Japan, are monarchies. What 
is the title of the monarch in each of these countries ? 

An Absolute Monarchy is one in which the ruler has full 
power. Russia., Turkey, and Persia are absolute monarchies. 

A Limited Monarchy is one in which the power of the ruler 
is limited by laws, and in which a body of men is chosen to 
share in making the Jaws. Great Britain and Germany are 
limited monarchies. 



NORTH AMERICA. 



32. Extent and Relief. 

On what continent do we live ? In what part of it ? 

Between what oceans does this continent lie ? What is its northern 
latitude ? Its southern ? What gulf on the south ? What is the latitude 
of the northern shore of this gulf ? 

Connect Capes Lisburne near Bering Strait and Bace on the Island of 
Newfoundland by straight lines. Connect each of them with the Isthmus 
of Tehuantepec. Which is the longest and which the shortest line ? 
What large bay is cut by one of these lines, and what large gulf by 
another ? With what shores are these lines nearly parallel ? With 
what systems of mountains are two of them nearly parallel ? 

If you draw a straight line from Cape Hatteras on the Atlantic to Cape 
Barrow in the Arctic Ocean, what large lakes will lie along the way ? 
What great river will run nearly parallel with such a line ? 

Draw a meridian through the most eastern point of the United States ; 
one through the most western point, Cape Mendocino ; and one through 
the most western of the Aleutian Islands. Is the eastern or the western 
meridian farther from the central one ? How many degrees of longitude 
are included between the eastern and the western of these meridians ? 

What parts of North America approach nearest the Old World on the 
east ? On the west ? What is the parallel at the point where North 
America and South America join ? 

Name and locate five peninsulas of North America. Name the three 
mountain systems of North America, and describe each as to location, 
extent, and elevation. State the extent of the central plain. What basin 
lies between the two divisions of the eastern highland ? 

In what direction does the Bocky Mountain system extend ? Where 
does it begin and end ? 

This system extends from the basin of the Yukon to Cape Horn. It is 

53 



54 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

called the Rocky Mountain system in its northern part, Cordilleras in 
Central America, and Andes in South America. 

What difference in the direction, or trend, of the Appalachian Moun- 
tains and the Laurentian ? 

REFERENCES. 
Shaler : The Story of Our Continent. 
Stanford : Compendium of Geography and Travel. 
Greufell: Vikings of To-day. (Labrador.) 

33. Rivers of North America. 

Rivers of the Arctic and Hudson Basins. — The Mackenzie 
River is the only large river of North America flowing into 
the Arctic Ocean. Its valley seems to be a prolongation north- 
ward of the valley of the Mississippi, and is well marked on 
the west but of uncertain extent on the east. 

The Mackenzie next to the St. Lawrence is the largest lake- 
fed river of America. 

The Nelson is the important river of the Hudson Bay 
system ; its source is in Lake Winnipeg, a noted lake as 
large as Lake Ontario. To this lake the Saskatchawan carries 
the waters of the Rocky Mountains. The Red River of the 
North carries to the Nelson the waters of Northern Minnesota 
and North Dakota. 

St. Lawrence and Atlantic Basins. — The St. Lawrence drains 
more large lakes than any other river of the world drains. 
The boundary of its basin is tolerably distinct on the northern 
side, but on the south it has no divide separating its waters 
from those of the Mississippi and Atlantic systems. 

The St. Lawrence is peculiar also in the clearness and purity of its 
waters and therefore in having no delta at its mouth. Though the St. 
Lawrence bears its name only from Lake Ontario to the Gulf, yet it may 
be considered as rising in Lake Superior and descending to the sea by a 
series of falls or rapids, with long level intervals between them. Point 
out the places of descent ; the places nearly level. 



RIVERS OF NORTH AMERICA. 55 

Mississippi River. — The great river of the central plain is 
the Mississippi. In its length, the area and fertility of its 
drainage basin, and in the facilities for water transportation 
which it affords, this is the most important river of the world. 

Drainage of the Western Slope. — The Pacific Highlands ex- 
tend northward to the basin of the Ynkon River, which drains 
the area between the Alaskan Mountains and the Arctic Ocean. 
The basin of the Yukon is about one thousand feet above the 
level of the sea. Next south comes the basin of the Frazer 
Eiver, which empties into the Gulf of Georgia near the southern 
boundary of Canada. 

The Gulf of Georgia is the body of water between Vancouver Island 
and the American continent. It connects with the Pacific Ocean on the 
north by Queen Charlotte's Sound, and on the south by the Strait of 
Juan de Fuca. 

Just south of this in the United States is the much larger 
basin of the Columbia Eiver. Here the land is about four 
thousand feet in average elevation. This elevation occasions 
very great falls in the Columbia, where it passes the Cascade 
range. 

South of the Columbia lies the Great Interior Basin, whose 
rivers flow into Salt Lake and smaller lakes. This basin is 
about six thousand feet high. What do you understand by an 
interior basin ? 

Still farther south is the long, narrow basin of the Colorado 
Eiver, which discharges its waters through the Grand Canyon 
of the Colorado into the Gulf of California. 

East and south of this lies the basin of the Eio Grande, 
which has its outlet in the Gulf of Mexico. 

There is a small and very elevated basin in which is the 
City of Mexico. This is about eight thousand feet above the 
level of the sea, and is an interior basin like that of Great 
Salt Lake. 



56 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

REFERENCES. 

Gannett : The Building of a Nation. 
Shaler : The Story of our Continent. 



34. Climate of North America. 

In North America there are three belts of climate extending 
from east to west. 

There is the northern belt, in which is included Greenland, 
most of British America, and all of Alaska except the southern 
shore. The middle belt includes Southern Canada, a part of 
Alaska, and most of the United States. The southern belt 
includes Mexico, Central America, Florida, and the West 
Indies. See map of Isotherms. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS. 

Name the great river of the Arctic basin. 

Name the great river of the Hudson Bay basin and its two chief 
tributaries. Contrast the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi in respect 
to deltas. 

Name the rivers and straits connecting the Great Lakes. 

Name four chief river basins whose waters enter the Pacific. Tell the 
location of each. Between which of them is the great interior basin ? 

There are four basins in the western part of North America that are 
respectively stated to be 8000, 6000, 4000, and 1000 feet in elevation. 
What are they ? In what order as to elevation do they come ? 

REFERENCES. 

Greeley : American Weather. 

Harrington : Rainfall and Snow of the United States. (Bulletin C, 
Weather Bureau, 1894.) 

Whitney : The United States. 

Patton : Natural Resources of the United States. 

Shaler : The Story of Our Continent. 

Tarr: Elementary Physical Geography. 



THE UNITED STATES. 



35. Position and Extent. 

The United States is one of the largest and most important 
countries in the world. 

It is wholly within the north temperate zone, the zone in 
which all the great nations of the world live. It has an 
immense extent and a great variety of surface, soil, climate, 
and products. 

What part of North America is occupied by the United States ? Be- 
tween what oceans does it lie ? Between what lakes and gulf ? 

Its length from east to west is nearly three thousand miles, 
and its width is about sixteen hundred miles. Its area with- 
out Alaska is over three million square miles. 

What meridian passes through Eastport, Maine ? Can you 
tell how Eastport received its name ? What is the longitude 
of Washington ? Of the Mississippi Eiver ? Of the Pacific 
coast of the United States ? 

The parallel of 49° north latitude, which forms a part of the 
northern boundary of the United States, is nearly the latitude 
of Paris in Erance. 

The forty-fifth parallel forms what part of the boundary of 
the United States ? What country in Europe does it cross ? 
What in Asia ? 

The parallel of 37° north separates the northern and south- 
ern states, and also separates Europe from Africa. 

57 



58 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

36. Physical Features. 

The United States has five great regions, differing in slope 
and elevation. These in order, from the east to the west, are 
the Atlantic slope, the Appalachian highlands, the Mississippi 
valley, the western highlands, and the Pacific slope. Trace 
all these npon the map of the United States as yon read the 
descriptions. 

The Atlantic slope lies between the Appalachian Monntains 
and the Atlantic Ocean. This slope is bnt a few miles wide in 
the north, bnt becomes wider toward the south, so that at the 
point where it joins the plain of the Gulf it has a width of 
abont three hundred miles. 

The Appalachian Mountains consist of several parallel 
ridges, having altogether a breadth of about one hundred 
miles, including the long valleys between the ranges. Some 
of the valleys are of remarkable fertility, and others are 
stony and unproductive. The highest points of the Appa- 
lachians are in New Hampshire, where they are called White 
Mountains, and in North Carolina. 

The western mountain system of the United States consists 
of a great number of ranges, running nearly north and south. 
The Coast Range, the Sierra Nevada, the Cascade Mountains, 
and the Rocky Mountains extend through about one thousand 
miles, enclosing elevated plateaus of very arid lands. This 
system is widest at about the latitude of forty degrees. 

The term Rocky Mountains is sometimes used to denote all the moun- 
tain chains between the Plains and the Pacific Ocean; but strictly it 
applies only to the most eastern of these ranges. 

The plateaus betweent hese ranges are broken by minor ranges, 
extending mostly in the same direction as the main ranges. 

West of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountains is the 
Pacific slope. 



DRAINAGE. 59 

Between the Kocky Mountains on the west and the Appa- 
lachians on the east is the Great Central Plain, or Basin of the 
Mississippi, comprising more than two-fifths of the territory 
and more than half of the population of the United States. 



37. Drainage. 

The Atlantic slope is well watered, and the numerous small 
rivers rush rapidly down this slope to the Atlantic. What is 
their general course ? At what place in these streams are 
rapids found? 

The most important rivers of this slope are the Connecticut, 
the Hudson, the Delaware, and the Potomac. 

The Central Plain is drained chiefly by the Mississippi. 
This is the largest river in North America, and is about three 
thousand miles long. The chief tributaries of the Mississippi 
are the Ohio on the east, and the Red, the Arkansas, and the 
Missouri on the west. 

The Mississippi rises in the central part of Minnesota, in Itasca Lake, 
or in some feeders of the Itasca. 

Its first course is through a swampy land filled with lakes. At Minne- 
apolis are the Falls of St. Anthony. The head of steamboat navigation 
is at St. Paul. From the Missouri to the Gulf, the river winds through 
" bottom lands " thirty to one hundred and fifty miles in width. Bottom 
lands are low lands formed by alluvial deposits along a river. These 
lands are exceedingly fertile, but on account of the annual spring over- 
flow are but little cultivated. Where the river strikes the bluff on either 
side of the bottom lands, there a city has generally sprung up. Find 
several such cities. 

The Missouri is the principal tributary of the Mississippi, 
and rises in Montana near the head waters of the Columbia 
and Colorado rivers. It enters the Mississippi about twenty 
miles above St. Louis. 

The river that rises in the Rocky Mountains under the name 



60 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

of Missouri (Muddy Biver), and empties into the Gulf of 
Mexico under the name of the Mississippi (Great River) is the 
longest in the world. It is about 4200 miles long. 
What are the principal rivers of the Pacific slope ? 

REFERENCES. 

Gannett : The Building of a Nation. 
Shaler : The Story of our Continent. 



38. Climate. 

The extent of the United States through twenty-five degrees 
of latitude and its varied relief give it all the climates of the 
temperate zone. The average temperature, which is but 40° in 
Maine, attains 70° in Florida and Louisiana. ~No less great 
is the contrast in temperature between the eastern and the 
western portions of the United States. 

What part of the United States is in tropical climate ? What part in 
warm temperate ? What part in the cool temperate zones ? What part 
has an arctic climate ? 

The average temperature is lower than that of the same lati- 
tudes in Europe and Africa, but higher than in Asia. 

The climate of the interior is continental, and is character- 
ized by extreme heat in summer, and great cold in winter, and 
rapid change from season to season. Spring is a short season, 
while the autumn is more prolonged, and ends in the northern 
states in an " Indian Summer." 

Blizzards and snowstorms are frequent in the winter season 
on the plains, and among the peaks of the western highlands. 
The summers are hot and scorching. The days are much 
warmer than the nights. 

In the northeastern part of the United States the extremes 
are great, and the thermometer often falls to forty degrees 



CLIMATE. 61 

below zero during the winter season, and reaches to one hundred 
degrees above zero in the hottest days of the summer. 

The great central plain is open, without any highlands to 
prevent the full sweep of the winds from the south to the 
north, and from the north to the south ; and, during the winter, 
ice often forms for a day even on the coasts of the Gulf of 
Mexico. 

The shores of the Pacific are an exception to the extreme 
character of the climate of most of the remainder of the United 
States. Being shut off from the cold winds of the north and 
east, and exposed to the winds from the Pacific, gives to these 
shores a maritime climate. The winters are mild and the 
summers cool. 

The temperature of the region east of the Eockies changes 
with great regularity from the cool north to the warm south. 
West of the 100th meridian, the climate as to temperature does 
not correspond with the latitude, but is one of extremes in the 
mountain and plateau regions. 

The average temperature of Northern New York is 44°, and of New 
Orleans 68°. What is the difference between these two temperatures ? 
What is the difference of latitude ? How much difference in temperature 
does a degree's difference in latitude make ? 

It is worth while to remember that, in the eastern part of the United 
States, latitude 45° has an average temperature of 44°, and that the average 
temperature changes 1.6° for each degree of latitude. 

Find the latitude of Florida Keys. What do you estimate the average 
annual temperature of this place to be ? What is the average temperature 
of Philadelphia? Of Washington? Charleston? 

The average temperature for the year is the same as that of part of 
the spring and fall ; but, of course, the summers are much warmer, and 
the winters much colder than the year's average. The difference in tem- 
perature between the winters and the summers is greater in the northern 
part of the United States than in the southern. 

Turn to the map of isotherms, Part II, p. 000, and compare the state- 
ments in this section with the map. 



62 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



39. Winds. 

The prevailing winds of the greater part of the United States 
are westerly. 

The southern part of the United States lies, however, within 
the region of the antnmn trade winds. What is the direction 
of these winds ? 

In general it may be said that throughout the United States 
the winds blow from the north more often in the winter and 
from the south in the summer than in other seasons of the 
year. 

The winds of the eastern portion are variable. They are 
moist on the coast, but dry on the highlands of the Appalachian 
system. 




MEAN 

ANNUAL RAINFALL 

IN INCHES. 



Fi?. 12, 



40. Rainfall. 

The sources of moisture for the different portions of the 
United States are naturally the warmer waters adjacent to 
them. 

The United States may be divided, as to amount of rainfall, 
into three general sections. Two of these sections are moist, 
and one is dry. The first section is that along the Pacific 



PECULIARITIES OF RAINFALL. 63 

coast extending to the Cascade Eange. The dry section 
extends from the Cascade Eange to the eastern base of the 
Eocky Mountains in longitnde abont 100° west. From this 
line to the Atlantic coast is a region in which the amount of 
rainfall varies, but is usually sufficient for the needs of the 
crops. 

The Atlantic states receive abundant showers distributed 
with considerable uniformity through the several seasons of 
the year. What change shall we find as we go westward? 
southward ? 

The increase of rainfall on this coast is from south to north. 
On the Atlantic coast the increase is from north to south. 

The peninsula of Southern California is a desert from lack 
of water, but the cultivable 
region increases in width 
and moisture toward the 
north. Oregon, Washing- 
ton, and British Columbia 
have a heavy rainfall and 

Irri ating Young Orchard by Furrow Method. 

much cloudiness ot sky. 

Experience shows that a fall of rain and snow of at least 
twenty inches of water per year is necessary for the growth of 
crops, unless the land is irrigated. Irrigated land is land 
watered by causing a stream to flow upon it. 

Where the fall is between twenty and twenty-five inches 
there are occasional seasons of destructive drought. 




■o- 



41. Peculiarities of Rainfall. 

For the best growth of crops it is not needful simply that 
there should be in the course of the year a sufficient amount of 
moisture from rain and snow, but this amount must be dis- 
tributed through the year, so that there shall be no seasons of 
drought nor seasons of such heavy rainfall as to delay vegeta- 



64 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



tion. The rainfall in the United States is, upon the whole, 
average in quantity, and its distribution through the several 
months of the year is in most localities a fortunate one. 

A supply of rain not very large will suffice for crops if it comes at the 
proper time ; but if the rainfall occurs mostly in the late fall and winter, 
there may be a large amount of it during the year and still the crops 
suffer from lack of moisture. 

It is for this reason that though our country has a greater annual rain- 
fall (snowfall included) than Europe, it is more subject to drought. The 
atmosphere of Europe is more laden with moisture than is that of the 
United States. For this reason the surface evaporation from the land 
and plants is less, and dews are more copious. In Europe, indeed, ex- 
cessive summer dampness is nearly as likely to ruin crops as drought 
is with us. 




Fig. 13. 

By reference to the map, which has been adapted from one 
published by General A. W. Greely, you can tell the season of 
the year in which rain or snow falls most copiously in different 
parts of the United States. 



The sections between the several type regions have a rainfall partaking 
of the characteristics of the adjoining sections. 

It should be noticed that this map shows only the time of greatest 
rainfall, but does not indicate the amount. 



FOREST REGIONS. 65 



REVIEW QUESTIONS. 

What part of the United States has a tropical climate ? A warm tem- 
perate ? A cool temperate ? What part has an arctic climate ? What can 
you say of the climate of the interior? What of the climate of the north- 
eastern part ? Would Florida oranges be safer from freezing if the Lau- 
rentian highlands extended in a high range to the Rocky Mountains? 

Is the climate of the Pacific coast as extreme as that of the other four 
sections of the United States ? What do you understand by an extreme 
climate ? Is the climate of the southern states as extreme as that of the 
northern states ? What are the two regions of greatest rainfall ? Where 
is the diy or arid section ? 

REFERENCES. 

Grerley : American Weather. 

Harrington : Rainfall and Snow of the United States. (Bulletin C, 
Weather Bureau, 1894.) 

Whitney : The United States. 

Patton : Natural Resources of the United States. 

Shaler : The Story of Our Continent. 

Tarr : Elementary Physical Geography. 

42. Forest Regions. 

The most important material used in manufacturing is wood, 
because of the many uses to which it can be put. Almost 
any kind of wood serves for fuel, but special qualities are 
required in the wood used in the building of houses, of rail- 
roads, of ships, and of bridges ; other qualities are needed for 
carriage building and tool handles, and still others for carv- 
ing and decorative woodwork. The wood that is used for 
matches or pencils cannot be used in making delicate musical 
instruments. 

Besides the wood, forests yield many other valuable mate- 
rials. From the bark and wood of oaks, chestnuts, and hem. 
locks a valuable tanning substance is obtained, from pine 
trees, tar and rosin, and by distillation turpentine and other 



66 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



oils, while other trees yield edible fruits, dyes, rubber, ink, 
and textile fabrics. There are three belts of forests across 
North America. 

The United States is an exceedingly well timbered country. 
It has two chief forest regions, an eastern and a western. 
Arkansas and Louisiana are the two most densely wooded 
states. 

The Eastern Forest Region, which is the most dense and the 
most valuable, lies east of the 95th meridian, though within 
this region there is a large area of prairie land. The forests 

of this region ex- 
tend along the At- 
lantic coast from 
Maine to Flor- 
ida, and along 
the southern bor- 
der into Texas. 
They extend also 
from Maine west- 
ward along the 
northern border 
of the United 
States, through the region of the Great Lakes into Minnesota. 
West of the Alleghany Mountains large forests are also 
found in Tennessee, Alabama, and Kentucky, while West 
Virginia is especially rich in native timber. Eastern Mis- 
souri and Texas have valuable forests. Many of the pines 
found in Texas reach one hundred feet in height. 

The Western Forest Region is much smaller in extent than 
the eastern. Beginning in California at the southern limit of 
the Sierra Nevada, the narrow belt of dense forests continues 
along the western slope of that range through Oregon and 
Washington, but broadens rapidly until in the northern part 
of the United States and in British America it extends from 




Hauling Logs in the Forest. 



FOREST REGIONS. 



67 




«5fefe5n& w 



Saw Mi 



the ocean to the summits of the Rocky Mountains. In Cen- 
tral British America the Atlantic and Pacific forest regions 
unite in patches of forests broken by open prairies. The 
great central land 
of the United 
States between 
these forests was 
in early times, as 
now, untimbered 
or prairie land. 

The Pacific tim- 
bered land ex- 
tends about a 
thousand miles farther north than the Atlantic. Why ? 

Portions of the forests in Washington and Oregon are 
nearly as dense as those on the banks of the Amazon. 
Peculiar to California are two species of trees which are 

of great size and 
beauty. One is 
called the red- 
wood, and the 
other the Big 
Tree. The red- 
wood is of a deep 
red color, and 
when polished 
has nearly the 
same rich tints as 
rosewood. These 
trees grow near 
the coast and are 




Loading Lumber at Dock. 



very large. The Big Trees are found in groves and are the 
largest trees in the world. Four of these trees are known to 
be over 300 feet liiq-h.. 



68 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



Pine Forests. — There are many varieties of pine which, are 
widely distributed over the forest areas of the United States, 
and which are, perhaps, the most important of all our trees. 
The white pine of the north, being compact yet soft and easily 
worked, is the common wood of which houses and some kinds 
of furniture are made. The chief states producing white pine 
are Maine, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Washington, and 
Oregon. 

Because of the abundance of timber in the lake region many 
cities manufacture furniture, Chicago and Grand Rapids making 
the most. 

The wood of the yellow pine, a southern species, is hard and 
tough, and is shipped north for flooring. From it is made 
nearly all the tar, pitch, rosin, and turpentine used in this 
country. North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia have 
immense pine forests. 



43. Agricultural Products. 

As to products, there are (east of the 100th meridian) 
three natural divisions of the United States, the southern, the 

middle, and the north- 
ern. The first is the 
land of cotton, the sec- 
ond of corn, the third 
of wheat. The south- 
ern or cotton belt ex- 
tends from the Gulf to 
the mouth of the Ohio. 
The middle or corn belt 
reaches north to the 
southern limit of the 
Great Lakes. The wheat belt is north of the corn belt and 
extends into Canada. 




Old Cotton Gin and Press. 



AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS. 



69 






Yet it must not be forgotten that corn is extensively culti- 
vated in the cotton belt and in the wheat belt, and that much 
wheat is grown in ^ 

the northern por- 
tion of the corn 
belt. 

Cotton. — Cot- 
ton is a plant of 
the torrid and 
warm temperate 
zones. It requires 
a warm climate 
free from frost 
for at least half 
of the year, with abundant moisture in the soil and little in 
the air. 

More cotton is produced in the United States than in any 
other country. China, India, and Egypt also raise great 
quantities of cotton. China uses its own cotton. The United 




Modern Steam Cotton Ginnery. 




^1,000,000 bales 
■ and over. 

HI 660,000 to 915,000 bales 

HI 190,000 to 330,000 bales 

[03 57,000 bales 



Fig. 14. 



States manufactures cotton goods, and also exports cotton to 
England, where India is its chief competitor in the cotton 



70 



GBAMMAB SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



markets. The value of the cotton export in our country is 
greater than that of any other export. 




100,000,000 dollars. 
15 million to 27 million dollars. 
5 million to 12 million dollars . 



Fig. 15. 

Cotton is raised in all the southern states. Which states 
rank first in this production ? Second ? Third ? Which states 
manufacture the most cotton? Which rank second in this 
manufacture ? Third ? Why are the chief cotton factories in 
New England ? 

England is the greatest cotton-manufacturing country of the 
world, United States the second, Germany and France next. 




222 million pounds, 
to 48 million pounds, 
to 12 million pounds. 



Fig. 16. 

Tobacco. — Tobacco is a plant adapted to a warm but not 
hot climate. Its range lies north of the cotton belt. Ken- 



AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS. 



71 



tucky produces nearly half of the tobacco raised in the United 
States. What states rank second ? Third ? 

Cuba and the other West India Islands raise tobacco in 
large quantities. India, Turkey, and Japan produce and use 
much tobacco. In Europe tobacco is extensively grown in 
France, Germany, and Russia. 




Fig. 17. 



Sugar-cane. — Sugar-cane is a plant somewhat resembling 
corn. It requires a moist soil and warm climate. From the 
juice expressed 
from its stem su- 
gar and molasses 
are made. 

In the United 
States sugar-cane 
is grown chiefly 
in the southern 
states near the 
Gulf and the Mis- 
sissippi. Which 
state produces the greatest amount of sugar ? Which states 
rank second ? Which third ? 




Cutting Sugar Cane. 



72 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



The consump- 
tion of sugar in 
our country is so 
great that we are 
unable to produce 
more than a small 
part of the sugar 
used here. Most of 




our sugar is im- 
ported from Cuba, 
Brazil, Java, and 
Hawaiian Islands. 
Rice. — Eice 
must be grown in a 
warm climate and 
upon low lands 
subject to inunda- 
tion or capable of being flooded. From the peculiar condi- 
tions of its growth, where it is raised at all, it is raised to 



Sugar Cane Mill, Louisiana. 




75 million pounds . 

14 million to 30 million pounds 

1 to 5 million pounds. 



Fig 18. 

the exclusion of nearly everything else. This is the grain of 
Southeastern Asia. It is to the people of China, India, Burma, 



AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS. 



73 



Japan, and adjacent islands the " staff of life." Considerable 
rice is raised also in Italy. 

Where is it raised in the United States ? Which state ranks 
first in its production ? Which states rank second ? Third ? 

Corn. — Indian corn is a native of North America, where it 
has long been cultivated, first by the Indians and afterward by 
the white men. 

Corn requires a warm, sunny climate with frequent showers. 
It is less hardy to endure cold than wheat. It is now the 
chief grain of the southern and central states. Hogs are 




Fig. 19. 



usually fattened upon corn, and the " hog and hominy " of 
the southern states indicate two of their chief products and 
favorite articles of food. 

The value of the corn crop in America is double that of the 
wheat crop or the cotton crop ; but it is not exported from the 
United States to so great an extent as wheat and cotton are. 
Much more corn is raised in the United States than in all the 
rest of the world. 

Study this map and name the chief corn-producing states. 
Which rank second ? Which third ? 

Corn is also grown abundantly in South America and consider- 



74 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



ably in Spain, Portugal, and the basin of the Mediterranean. 
How do yon account for this ? 

Wheat. — Wheat is the most valuable plant raised in the 
temperate zone. Although it has been raised from the earli- 
est residence of man on the earth, it is only within the last 
hundred years that it has become of general use among the 
poor. Its use is rapidly increasing. Its product is now 
about six times what it was in 1850. The center of greatest 
product is gradually moving westward. 




Fig. 20. 

The real granary of the United States at the present time 
is in the section contained between the Missouri and the Ohio 
on the south and the Canadian frontiers on the north. Among 
these states Illinois holds first rank. Which states are ranked 
with Illinois as the greatest wheat-producing states ? Which 
states rank second ? Which third ? 

The United States is the greatest wheat-producing region of 
the world. Russia, France, India, and Argentina are next in 
order as wheat-raising countries. But the group of countries 
in Eastern Europe, near the Black Sea, produces more wheat 
than the United States. 

Though France produces a large quantity of wheat, it consumes it all 
and imports an additional amount from other wheat-raising countries. 



AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS. 



75 



England formerly supplied its own wheat and even exported some 
of it ; but the density of its population is such that it can no longer 
do this. 

Oats. — Oats grow in more parts of the world than wheat or 
corn grows ; bnt they are raised most extensively in the belt 
of territory just north of the wheat belt. They are the best of 
all grains for horses, and are consumed in increasing quantity 
as food for people. 

In the United States, Iowa and Illinois produce the largest 
amount of oats. 




Fig. 21. 

Barley. — Barley is raised still more widely than oats. 

Barley was to the ancients what wheat is to modern people, the favor- 
ite food of the wealthier classes. 

California, Wisconsin, and Iowa raise the most barley in the United 
States. 

Rye. — Eye is cultivated largely in Europe. It thrives in 
a poor soil and in cold and elevated regions. 

Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and New York raise the largest 
quantities. 

Potatoes. — The potato, like corn, is a native of the New 
World and is a plant of very great importance, as it can be 



76 GRAMMAB SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

readily grown in large quantities. It is found on the rich 
man's table, and is the staple article of diet of the poor. 

Grapes. — The grape is grown best where the summers are 
long and warm. It is like corn in its requirements, but is 
more liable to damage by early frosts. What are the require- 
ments for the growth of corn ? 

In the United States, California, and the states of the Ohio 
valley are the grape-growing states. 

In Europe, the basin of the Mediterranean, particularly in 
France, produces grapes. 

What uses are made of grapes ? 

Where are the wine-making regions of the world ? 

Orchard Products. — Of orchard products, California raises 
the most plums and apricots ; New York and California raise 
the most pears ; Florida and Texas the most peaches, with 
Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, second in amount ; and 
Ohio and Michigan raise the most apples, with Kentucky, 
Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, New York, and Virginia next in 
rank. 

Flax. — Flax is a plant of great value. From it is woven 
linen, and the seed furnishes an oil used in mixing paints. 
It is grown mostly in Russia, Northern Italy, Central Europe, 
and Ireland. Its growth in the United States is extending, 
while cotton is taking its place in Egypt and India. 

Hemp. — Hemp is a plant somewhat like flax; but its fibers 
are coarser and stronger. It is grown where flax is grown. 

REFERENCES. 

Whitney : The United States. 

Gaunett : The Building of a Nation. 

I)e Cauda lle : Origin of Cultivated Plants. 

Patton : Natural Resources of the United States. 

Shaler : The Story of Our Continent. 

Chisholm : Handbook of Commercial Geography. 

Tilden : A Commercial Geography. 



ANIMAL PRODUCTS. 



77 



44. Animal Products. 

Wool. — By wool we usually understand the fleece of the 
sheep, although the short, crispy hair that grows on the 




Fig. 22. 

alpaca, the llama, and some kinds of goats, is also called wool. 

Sheep are reared in most countries of the temperate zone, 

and their wool makes the most suitable material for clothing 




20 to 35 million dollars 
5 to 9 million dollars . 
1 to 3 million dollars . 



Fig. 23. 

in temperate and cold climates. Sheep are also reared for 
mutton. 

More sheep are reared in Europe than in any other part of 



78 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

the world. Australia is second in this product, and the United 
States third. Where in the United States are the most sheep 
reared ? Which states rank second in sheep rearing ? 

Europe and the United States manufacture their wool into 
woolen goods, and import an additional quantity of wool from 
other countries. 

Which states are the leading woolen-manufacturing states ? 
Which rank second ? Third ? 

Great Britain is the leading nation in the manufacture of 
woolen goods. 

The three chief wool exporting regions of the world are 
Australia, Argentina and Uruguay, and South Africa. 

In these countries the conditions for raising wool cheaply surpass 
those of any other portion of the world. The climate is mild, land is 
cheap, and suited for pasturage. Wide ranges can be obtained. The 
lands border closely upon the sea, permitting the bulky fleeces to be sent 
cheaply to England and America. 

Silk. — Silk is made from the cocoons of the silkworm. 
This animal feeds on the leaves of the mulberry tree. China, 
Japan, and India in Southern Asia, and Greece, Italy, and 
France in Southern Europe, are the countries from which 
most silk is exported. 

France, Germany, and the United States are the silk-manu- 
facturing countries. China and Japan manufacture silk for 
home use, and also export raw silk. 

Fur. — Fur is obtained mainly from animals that live in the 
cold regions of the northern hemisphere. Why northern ? The 
fur seal of Bering Sea is the most valuable fur-bearing animal. 

Leather. — Hides or skins are made into leather by subject- 
ing them to the action of tannic acid. This acid is obtained 
mainly from the bark of oaks and hemlocks ;. hence tanneries 
are usually found near forests of these trees. 

Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts in • the east, 



ANIMAL PRODUCTS. 



79 



and Wisconsin and Illinois among the central states, are en- 
gaged extensively in the business of tanning leather. 

Germany, France, and Russia also make large amounts of 
leather. What countries do you think export hides for leather? 
For what is leather used ? 

Beef, Pork, and Mutton. — Beef, pork, and mutton are the chief arti- 
cles of meat diet. Cattle are raised most profitably in the sparsely settled 
sections of the temperate zone where grass grows luxuriantly. The soil 
must not be swampy nor dry and rocky. Sheep may be raised profitably 
on soil too dry and hilly to be suitable for cattle. 

The great cattle-raising sections of the world are the western 
portion of the Mississippi valley, the southern part of South 
America, and Australia. Sheep are raised in the same sections, 
though more cattle than sheep are raised in the United States. 
Where are hogs raised ? 

Texas and Iowa raise the most cattle. Kansas and Illinois 
rank second; Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Pennsylvania 
Indiana, and Wisconsin, third. 

Fish. — Almost all the fish used for food live in cold waters 
and come with the cold currents to places accessible to man. Cod, 
mackerel, herring, 
trout, and salmon 
are the most impor- 
tant food fishes. 

The United 
States is the fore- 
most nation in the 
value of its fisher- 
ies, England is sec- 
ond, Japan third. 

The most valuable cod fisheries of the world are on the Banks 
of Newfoundland. Maine and Massachusetts are the two 
states chiefly engaged in this business. 

The North Sea has fishing banks for cod and herring, and 




Spreading Codfish on Rocks. 



80 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

there are fine fishing grounds along the northwestern shores 
of the United States. 

Herring are taken on the coast from Maine to Labrador, as 
well as on the corresponding coast of Enrope. 

Herring are taken largely in the winter, and being frozen solid at once, 
are readily transported to the cities of the northern states. Small herring 
are often put up in cans and called " sardines " or " brook trout. 1 ' 

The most valuable salmon fisheries of the United States are 
on the northwest coast, and on the Columbia River. The sal- 
mon are canned and exported to all parts of the world. 

Mackerel are found in great schools on the east coast of New 
England, and the corresponding coasts of Europe. 

They are mostly taken by seine. These seines are fastened in a train 
sometimes two miles in length, and many barrels of fish are taken at a 
single haul. 

Bluefish are becoming abundant in the warm waters of the 
Atlantic along the coast of New Jersey. 

Sea bass are found still farther south, and are caught in 
large quantities along the coast of Florida. 

Oysters. — The oysters of America are much larger and 
more palatable than those of Europe, and the value of the 
annual product is more than five times as great. Oysters are 
found in the Atlantic Ocean at different places from Narragan- 
sett Bay to Florida. They are most abundant in Chesapeake 
Bay, and Maryland produces nearly one-half the oysters of the 
United States. 

Oysters and clams are also found in Puget Sound, but these are not 
equal in quality to those of the Atlantic coast. The eastern oyster has 
been transplanted to the waters of the Pacific Ocean, and thrives well. 

Observe that the great fishing grounds of the world are at the north- 
east and the northwest of the United States and in the North Sea. 

REFERENCES. 
Whitney : The United States. 



MINERAL PRODUCTS. 



81 




A Colliery. 



45. Mineral Products. 

The Rocky Mountain System is the most remarkable mineral 
region of the world. The United States produces more gold, 
silver, copper, and 
iron than any other 
country, and is sec- 
ond in the produc- 
tion of coal, lead, 
zinc, and mercury. 
The area under- 
laid by coal in the 
United States is 
the largest in the 
world, and more 
coal is mined here than in any other country except England. 
The use of natural gas and the production of petroleum are 
greater here than elsewhere in the world. 

•Without the coal to smelt our iron ores very little iron and 
steel could be produced. Coal warms our houses, and by 

means of the gas 
which is manu- 
factured from it, 
lights them as well; 
it drives our en- 
gines in mills and 
factories, on ships, 
and railroads. 
After gas has been 
extracted from coal 
there remains a sub- 
stance called coal 
tar from which aniline colors, carbolic acid, naphtha, and other 
products are obtained, and the coke is used for fuel. 




An Anthracite Coal Breaker. 



82 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



Coal is mined in three-fifths of our states. 
The most important coal field in the United States is the 
Appalachian field, from which three-fourths of our coal is 




Fig. 24. 

mined, This field extends from Northern Pennsylvania south- 
westward into Alabama, and is nearly 900 miles long and from 
30 to 180 miles wide. East of the Alleghany Mountains, chiefly 

in Pennsylvania, lies the 
anthracite coal, while west 
lies the semi-bituminous, 
and further west the bitu- 
minous, lying partly with- 
in eight states. 

The state of Pennsyl- 
vania produces nearly 
three-fifths of the coal of 
our country, and this coal 
is of the best quality. The 
most thickly populated 
part of our country — the 
New England states and 
New York — obtains its 
coal from Pennsylvania. 




MINERAL PRODUCTS. 



83 



Philadelphia is the 
chief coal - export- 
ing city. Ohio 
and West Virginia 
stand next in the 
amonnt of coal pro- 
duced in this Ap- 
palachian region, 
but that mined in 
the other states is 
small, for these 
states are far from 
manufacturing centers, and their fuel is obtained from their 
large forests. 

The Central coal field is the next in importance. It underlies 
parts of three states, — Illinois, Indiana, and Western Ken- 
tucky. Illinois, though far behind Pennsylvania in the amount 
of coal produced, is the second coal-producing state of the 




Coal Pickers at Work. 




2 million tons. 
to 12 million tons. 
QUO 1 to 4 million tons. 
P3 120,000 to 865,000 tons 



Fig. 25. 

Union. Kentucky has parts of both the Appalachian and Cen- 
tral fields within its territory, but they have been little worked. 
The Western coal field covers a large area, comprising parts 
of Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Arkansas, Indian Terri- 



84 



GBAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



tory, and Texas. The coal is of inferior quality, but very 
valuable for fuel, as these states are not well supplied with 
forests. Of these states, Iowa produces the most coal. 

Nearly all the western states have deposits of inferior coal, 
usually lignite, which is mined for fuel where there are scanty 

,. # v v forest growths, 

especially in Col- 
orado, Wyoming, 
and Washington. 
Coal is found 
in abundance in 
Northern Europe, 
especially in Eng- 
land, and also in 
Canada, China, 
and Australia. 

Iron. — Iron is 
the only common 
metal that can be 
welded, and it is, 
therefore, the 
most useful met- 
al that we have. 
What are some of 
its uses ? What 
is meant by weld- 
ing ? Why does the fact that iron can be wielded make it 
the most useful of metals ? 

No other metal is found so widely distributed over the 
earth. Great Britain has alw r ays produced more iron than any 
other country until within the last few years, but now the 
United States leads in this product, Great Britain ranks 
second, and Germany third. Iron was exported from Britain 
before the Christian era. 




An Iron Blast Furnace. 



MINERAL PRODUCTS. 



85 




Roiling Sheet-Iron. 



Iron is not often found in a pure state. It must be extracted from 
the iron ore, in 
which various other 
substances are com- 
bined. The ore is 
smelted, — that is, 
reduced to a molten 
(melted) condition, 
by heat and chemi- 
cal action, in a blast 
furnace. The iron 
sinks to the bottom 
of the furnace, and 
is then run off into 
molds. This prod- 
uct is called pig iron 
or cast iron. The 
value of the pig iron 
produced in our 
country exceeds that of the gold and silver. Pig iron is brittle, and, in 
order to make it firm, it is remelted and stirred, so that a part of the 

carbon which it con- 
tains is driven out. 
The fluid iron is al- 
lowed to cool, and is 
then hammered and 
rolled into bars and 
sheets of wrought or 
malleable iron. 

By another process 
pig iron is converted 
into steel, which is 
not only more durable 
than iron, but also 
lighter, and is very 
flexible and elastic. 
It is used in mak- 
ing ocean steamers, 
bridges, weapons, and cutlery. Tools and springs are made from steel. 




The Great Steam Hammer. 



86 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



The chief iron-ore regions are the Lake Superior region and 
the Appalachian region. 

Except in the Lake Superior region, the iron ore is found 




Fig. 26. 



where there is also abundance of coal or wood for making 
charcoal, and of limestone — a substance necessary to cause 
the molten iron to flow easily into molds. A very large por- 



3250,000,000 + 
1 180,000,000 to §110,000,000 
I $10,000,000 to $45,000,000 




Fig. 27. 

tion of the ore from Lake Superior is cheaply transported, 
partly by water, to the furnaces at Chicago, at Pittsburg, and 
other centers of iron manufacture. 



MINERAL PRODUCTS. 



87 



Michigan produces two-fifths of the iron of the United 

States. 




5,800,000 long ton3. 
1,200,000 to 1,500,000 
long tons. 
mm 800,000 long tons. 

E=! 110,000 to 400,000 tons 



Fig. 28. 

Petroleum. — Petroleum, or rock-oil, is an oil that is cbtained 
by boring holes in 
th3 earth. From 
some oil wells the 
oil flows freely, 
while from others 
it is brought to the 
surface by pumps. 
The crude oil is 
carried in tank 
cars, or is sent by 
great force pumps 
through iron pipes, 
sometimes a dis- 
tance of several 
hundred miles, to 
refineries. There, 
by distillation, a 
light oil is pro- 
duced for use in 
lamps, a somewhat oa Ref.nery. 




88 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



heavier oil for heating, and still heavier oils for oiling ma- 
chinery. The oil region of New York state is small in com- 
parison with that of Pennsylvania. Ohio, 
California, and West Virginia also pro- 
duce crude oil in far smaller quantities. 

More than half of the refined oil pro- 
duced in the United States is exported to 
other countries. The larger portion of 
that exported has been sent to Europe, 
but Eussia is now developing her great oil 

region, which ex- 
tends along both 
sides of the Cau- 
casus. Nowhere 
else are there so 
many free-flo win g 
wells, nor wells 
that produce so 




A Field of Derricks. Effect of Torpedo. 

great a quantity, as in this Caucasian 
region. 

Natural Gas. — Throughout the pe- 
troleum region of the Alleghany range, 
and still further west in Ohio aud 
Indiana, natural gas has been obtained 
by sinking wells. This gas is used 
for illuminating and heating purposes. 
Most of the iron and steel works with- 
in the natural gas region use this gas 
for fuel. 




A Burning Oil Tank. 



MINES AL PRODUCTS. 



89 




Panning Gold, Cripp'e Creek. 



Gold and Silver. — Gold is usually combined with silver. It 
was first discovered as shining particles or in large nuggets, 
in beds of streams 
or wherever it \l 

had been freed 
from the gold- 
bearing rocks. 

Placer mining is 
the earliest and sim- 
ple st kind of mining. ,"; 
In this form of min- '* 
ing the alluvial soil 
and gravel contain- 
ing gold brought 
from gold bearing 
rocks is by frequent 
washings made to give up its partich s of gold. In the hydraulic process, 
water is forced with such power through a huge In se that it tears away 

the side hills, and the 
gold sinks to the bot- 
tom of sluices made 
to collect it. This 
brings down rock and 
earth upon farming 
land Hydraulic min- 
ing has on this ac- 
count been prohibited 
in California. 

In quartz mining 
the rock, or quartz, is 
drilled and blasted, 
and the rock after be- 
ing powder* d is mixc d 
with water and quick- 
silver. The gold and 
quicksilver unite. By 
heating this compound, or amalgam, the quicksilver is driven off and 
the gold left. 




Sluicing Cold, Cripple Creek. 



90 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



California produces more than one-third of the gold of the 
United States. Which states rank next in amount of gold 
mined ? Which rank third ? Which ranks fourth ? 




Fig. 29. 

Of silver, Colorado produces the largest amount, and Montana 
the next amount. Which states rank second in silver produc- 
tion ? Which rank third ? 

The United States produces more 
gjld and silver than any other 
country, and yet the value of both 
these precious metals is not equal 
to that of the wheat, of the corn, 
or of the cotton raised in this 
country. 

Both gold and silver are found 
widely distributed over the earth. 
The chief gold-producing countries 
next to the United States are Aus- 
tralia, Russia, and South Africa. 
Silver is mined in Mexico and in 
the Andes Mountains of South 
America. The amount of gold obtained each year in California 
is now only about one-fifth what it was in 1860. 




At the End of a Silver Mine. 



MINERAL PRODUCTS. 



91 



Copper. — Copper is used for utensils, for sheathing ships, 

and in the arts, but especially as a conductor in electricity. 

Its alloys are of very great value. Copper mixed with zinc 




13 to 18 million ounces \j 
1 to 7 million ounces 
100,000 to 324,000 ounces 



Fig. 30. 

mes brass, mixed with tin it becomes gun metal or bell 

il. Bronze is a compound of copper, tin, and lead. German 

r is an alloy of copper, zinc, and nickel. Gold and silver 

and jewelry have copper mixed with the precious metals 

! *e them more durable. 

other country produces so much copper as the United 
. It is found chiefly on the shores of Lake Superior in 
Michigan, in Montana 
and Arizona. Colorado, 
California, New Mex- 
ico, and Utah, also pro- 
duce smaller amounts. 
The other copper- 
pr[od[ucing countries 
are Spain, Chile, Ger- 
many. Silver Bullion Smelter. 

Lead. — Lead is chiefly used in making shot and water pipes. 
White lead, used in paints and in glazing earthenware, is a 
compound of lead and carbonic acid. 





92 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

The United States leads in the production of lead, Spain and 
Germany ranking next. 

Much of the lead produced in our country comes from the 
silver districts of Colorado, Idaho, Utah, Montana. Next to 
Colorado, Missouri produces the most lead. 

Zinc. — Zinc is found with the lead in the states of Missouri 

and Kansas, but a larger amount is obtained in Illinois. Ger- 

tjfe many and Belgium are 

the chief zinc-producing 
countries. 

Quicksilver. — Quick- 
silver, or mercury, is the 

Group of Zinc Mining Plants on "The Thousand only me fa\ t hat is fluid at 
Acre Tfact," Joplin, Mo. 

ordinary temperatures. 
It is used in scientific instruments en 1 in combination with 
other metals to form amalgams. 

Most of the mercury of the world was formerly obtained 
from Spain and Austria, but since 1850 a large amount has 
been produced annually in California. 

Salt. — ■ Salt is obtained by evaporating the water of the 
ocean, of salt lakes, or of brine obtained by boring, and also 
by mining rock salt. In California, sea water is evaporated, 
and in Utah the water of Great Salt Lake furnishes consider- 
able salt, but by far the greater part of the salt manufactured 
in our country comes from brine obtained by boring in the 
states of Michigan, New York, Ohio, and West Virginia. In 
Michigan, the making of salt and the sawing of lumber are 
carried on together, the refuse lumber from the mills furnish- 
ing fuel for the fire under the salt pans. Hence salt can be 
produced more cheaply there than in the other states. 

Deposits of rock salt exist in many states. Great Britain 
produces more salt than the United States. At a town in 
Germany an immense layer of rock salt, 1000 feet thick, has 
been found at a depth of 800 feet. 



MANUFACTURES. 93 



REFERENCES. 



Tarr : Economic Geology of United States. 

Whitney : The United States. 

Gannett : The Building of a Nation. 

Patton : Natural Resources of the United States. 

Shaler : The Story of Our Continent. 

Chisholm : Handbook of Commercial Geography. 

46. Manufactures. 

The manufactures of the United States are increasing 
rapidly in extent and value. They are now three times as 
great as they were thirty years ago, and surpass in amount 
those of every other country. 

The part of the United States along the Atlantic seaboard 
from Portland to Philadelphia is that in which manufactures 
have made most progress. There is water power, there are 
opportunities for transportation, there are a dense population 
and much wealth. Besides that section, Ohio, Indiana, and 
Illinois, because of their position on the Great Lakes and their 
opportunities to get materials and find markets, are now 
important manufacturing states. 

The Atlantic coast has the advantage of possessing good and 
abundant water power. The people of this section began 
manufacturing before the other sections, and have retained in 
great measure the advantage which this gave them. They 
now manufacture more goods than all the rest of the nation. 

The manufactures of the United States are mainly used at 
home. Our country has not yet become a great exporter of 
manufactured goods, except of its agricultural products. 

You may not think of beef, pork, and mutton, and prepara- 
tions made from them, as manufactures, but so they are, and 
altogether they are the most important manufactures we have. 
These are called provisions. The products from the flouring 



94 GRAMMAB SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

and grist mills are next in value to those of meats. These are 
called breadstuffs. Then come iron and steel from iron ore, 
and articles made from iron and steel in foundries and 
machine shops. The forests of timber, when cut into lumber, 
furnish our next most important product. 

In the value of manufactured products as well as in com- 
merce, wealth, and population, New York is the Empire State. 
Second in the value of manufactured products is Pennsylvania. 
Illinois is third. Massachusetts, the chief of the New England 
states, is fourth. Ohio and New Jersey are fifth and sixth. 

The great manufacturing city of the United States is New 
York. Chicago and Philadelphia are second and third. The 
value of manufactures in these three cities is more than one- 
fifth of that of the entire country. 

In proportion to their size, Rhode Island and Massachusetts 
are the chief manufacturing states. They make half the cotton 
goods produced in the United States. 

Illinois and New York, with Ohio and Pennsylvania, are the 
meat-packing states. The flouring states are Minnesota and 
New York. Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, are also 
large producers of flour. 

Iron and steel are manufactured to greater extent in Penn- 
sylvania than in all the other states, but New York, Ohio, arid 
Illinois make large quantities. What states rank third in this 
manufacture ? 

In the products of foundries and machine shops New York, 
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Massachusetts, and Illinois surpass the 
other states. 

47. Commerce. 

A nation's commerce, domestic and foreign, is the measure 
of its greatness. 

How does the domestic or inland commerce of the United 
States compare in extent with that of other nations ? 



LAKE CANALS. 95 

England is the foremost nation in amount of foreign com- 
merce. France is second, and Germany and the United 
States third and fourth. 

In this country we need to import many goods, for other 
countries raise in abundance products that we want and can- 
not raise so well. We import sugar, for we consume much 
more sugar than we raise. We import tea and coffee, which we 
consume in large quantities and do not raise at all. From 
warm countries we get fruits and spices. Wool and woolen 
goods are largely imported, and so are silk and leather, with 
articles manufactured from them. Turn to Part II., p. 00, 
and notice there from what countries each of these articles 
is obtained. 

We export cotton, provisions, including meat and dairy 
products, breadstuffs, iron and steel, and articles made from 
iron and steel, tobacco, and petroleum. These are our chief 
exports. The greater part of them is sent to Europe. 

The United States exports in larger quantities than any 
other country, cotton, tobacco, dairy products, meats, and 
timber, and is surpassed in wheat exports only by Russia. 
Although the United States raises more wheat than any other 
country, yet about four-fifths of it is consumed at home. 

What countries compete with ours in the export of cotton ? 
Of wheat ? Of tobacco ? Of meat products ? Of iron and 
steel ? Of petroleum ? 

The United States is well situated to develop an extensive 
foreign commerce. What great cities are favorably situated 
as exporting centers ? 

48. Lake Canals. 

The most important canals in the United States are those 
opened to permit the transportation of the products of the 
Central States to the Atlantic seaboard. 



96 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

Trace on your map a water route from Duluth to the 
Atlantic. 

From Chicago through Lake Michigan there is an easy pas- 
sage to Lake Huron, but Lake Superior is connected with Lake 
Huron by the St. Mary's River, in which there are falls that 
prevent the passage of vessels. Around these falls a canal 
has been made, called St. Mary's Canal. This has been en- 
larged, and is now undergoing a second enlargement. When 
it is completed it will be the largest ship canal in the world. 
More ships pass through it than through the famous Suez 
Canal. 

The next obstruction to navigation is Lake St. Clair, between 
Lakes Huron and Erie. This is too shallow to permit large 
boats to pass through, and to overcome this difficulty the 
government has dredged a channel through the lake. 

Between Lakes Erie and Ontario is the Niagara Eiver with 
its falls. Vessels can discharge their cargoes at Buffalo to go 
by rail or by the Erie Canal to New York, or they can pass 
through the Welland Canal, which runs through Canada 
parallel to the Niagara Eiver. If they pass through this canal 
and Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence will afford them a way to 
the Atlantic, but the Lachine Bapids in the St. Lawrence above 
Montreal must be encountered. Around these rapids has been 
constructed the Lachine Canal, through which all boats pass in 
ascending the river, and all but large passenger boats in 
descending it. 

From Montreal to the ocean the course is unobstructed in 
summer, but closed with ice in the winter. 

49. Railroads. 

Railroads are the chief means of transporting goods. The 
first railroad in the world was opened in England in 1825, and 
the second one in the United States in 1827, to carry granite 



GROWTH OF CITIES. 97 

from Quincy, Mass., to tide water. Now the United States 
has more than 175,000 miles of railroad, which is six times as 
much as any other country has, and as much as have Europe, 
Asia, and Africa combined. 

Illinois has about 10,000 miles of railroad. This is more 
than there were in the whole United States in 1850. Kansas, 
Texas, Pennsylvania, Iowa, and New York are next in order 
with about 8000 miles each. Massachusetts has more miles 
of railroad in proportion to her size than any other state. 

REFERENCES. 

Whitney : The United States. 
Gannett : The Building of a Nation. 
Trotter : Lessons in the New Geography. 
Chisholm : Handbook of Commercial Geography. 

50. Growth of Cities. 

If a city has excellent facilities for commerce, both by land and water, 
and especially if the movement of goods is such that goods are transferred 
from one route to another and " break bulk" at this city, then the pros- 
pects of this city's rapid growth are good. Goods are said to "break 
bulk" when they change from one conveyance to another, or are removed 
from the packages in which they have been carried. Changing from 
wagon to boat, boat to ship, ship to warehouse, warehouse to cars, cars 
to trucks or stores, is breaking bulk. 

Breaking bulk requires the labor of men, the use of teams and 
machinery, and thus gives remunerative employment to laborers. 

It renders the location favorable to wholesale trade. The facilities 
for obtaining and handling goods, and for sending them in various 
directions by different and competing conveyances, make such places 
good locations for manufactories. 

The manufactures and wholesale trade require capital to be invested 
in mills and shops, stores, goods, and warehouses, and so make a center 
for a great banking business. 

All these things build up a city ; and because the people engaged in 
commerce, transportation, banking, and manufactures center at these 

G 



98 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

favorable points, other people gather there also, and professional men, 
builders, workmen of all kinds, find employment, and hence the city 
grows. 

Goods are carried more cheaply by water than by land. Hence it is 
most profitable to carry them as far by boat as is convenient. Cities 
having foreign trade are not built out upon capes to make the land trans- 
portation longer and the sea voyage shorter, but are built as far inland 
as sea-going vessels can readily reach. In this location too, sheltered 
harbors for the shipping are secured, and this is, of course, important. 

Besides the manufactures and commerce which are the main causes of 
the growth of cities, there are other attractions that bring people to them. 
Washington is the capital of the United States, and is an important city 
for this reason. Many people must live in Washington to do the busi- 
ness of the government in its various departments. The government 
needs to erect large buildings. This brings workmen and builders. All 
these people must be provided with houses, food, clothing, transportation, 
books, professional service. This brings capitalists, marketmen, store- 
keepers, street-railway builders and operators, printers, lawyers, doctors, 
clergymen, teachers, to the city ; and the gathering of all these people 
makes the city larger and larger year by year. So it is to a less degree 
with the capitals of states, and so it is sometimes to a greater degree 
with the capitals of other nations. What capitals can you name that are 
great cities ? 

51. Cities of the United States. 

The growth in recent years of cities in the United States is remarkable. 
In 1790 only three persons of each one hundred of the population lived in 
cities. In 1890, twenty-eight out of every hundred were residents of 
cities. In the eastern states almost the entire increase of population for 
the last thirty years is found in the cities. 

Out of the 63 million people of the United States, 18J millions live in 
cities. Notwithstanding the opening up of the immense agricultural and 
mining regions of the United States, the growth in population of the cities 
is much more rapid than that of the rural sections. This is true not 
merely in the United States, but throughout the civilized world. 

Between 1880 and 1890 the population of the cities of the United States 
increased 62 per cent and of the rural parts 12 per cent. 

The cities which grew most rapidly during the ten years between 1880 
and 1890 were those best situated for commerce by rail and water. 



CITIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



99 



These cities are Chicago, New York, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Minne- 
apolis, St. Louis, Cleveland, and Baltimore. 

Tell where each of these cities is located and what advantages it has 
for commerce by rail and water. 




^^ Over 90 to a sq. mile 
HI 18-45 " 

cud 6-i8 " 



DENSITY 

OF TOTAL 

POPULATION. 






Fig. 31. 

There are in the United States sixteen cities having a popu- 
lation of 200,000 or more. See Part II., p. 000. 




Above 50 per cent 
25 - 50 per cent. 

j E=3 10 - 25 per cent. 

I bdJLe33 than 10 per cent. 



Fig. 3 . 

If we arrange these cities in groups according to size, we 
shall have four cities of the first class, comprising those hav- 
ing a population of 800,000 or more ; three of the second class, 
with a population between 400,000 and 500,000 ; and nine of 



100 GBAMMAB SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

the third class, with a population between 200,000 and 300,000. 
Of cities with a population between 100,000 and 200,000 there 
are twelve. 

The cities of the United States can be grouped in four 
divisions, corresponding nearly with the drainage basins. These 
are the regions tributary to the Atlantic, to the Pacific, to the 
Great Lakes, and to the Gulf, including the Mississippi sys- 
tem. Name some of our great cities belonging to the Atlantic 
group ; to the Pacific ; to the Great Lake ; to the Gulf. 

52. Great Cities of the Atlantic Coast. 

The four great commercial cities of the Atlantic coast are 
Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. These are 
all, in effect, on bays or arms of the ocean stretching inland. 

Boston is well located to control the trade of the greater 
portion of the New England States ; but New York is one 
hundred and forty miles nearer the rest of the United States. 

Philadelphia, the third city of the United States, lies on 
the Schuylkill Biver at its junction with the Delaware Biver 
one hundred miles from its mouth. It is at the head of deep, 
water navigation on the Delaware. Its location is favorable 
for trade with a prosperous section of the country. Its ready 
access to mines of coal and iron on one side and the ocean 
on the other has made it a great manufacturing and commer- 
cial city, and the foremost ship-building city of the Union. 

Philadelphia and Baltimore are well located to control the 
commerce of the territory near them, but they have been shut 
off until recent years by the Appalachian mountain system 
from ready access to the Mississippi valley, which is the center 
of population and products in the United States. 

New York is the largest city not only of the United States, 
but of the New World. It is situated on a long, narrow island 
between the mouth of the Hudson and the opening of Long 



GREAT CITIES OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 101 

Island Sound. It has the ocean, the river, and the sound for 
its waterways. New York Bay forms an admirable harbor, 
the best on the Atlantic coast. 

By way of the Hudson and the Mohawk valley, New York 
finds an open entrance to the trade of the Great Lakes and 
of the Mississippi valley. This nature's way to the West has 
been utilized by the construction of the Erie Canal and of 
the great railroad following the same natural route. These 
have made New York City a convenient port for imports and 
exports between Europe and the greater part of the United 
States, and therefore the greater portion of the foreign trade 
of the United States passes through New York. 

New York is commercially much larger than its census 
population would indicate. Brooklyn, Jersey City, Hoboken, 
Newark, Elizabeth, Long Island City, Yonkers, are commer- 
cially portions of New York, and with this city have a popula- 
tion of more than 3,000,000 (see p. ). The London police 
have jurisdiction over nearly five millions of people. This is 
the world's largest center of population. New York is the 
second. 

53. Great Cities of the Mississippi Valley. 

The products of the West must be gathered and forwarded to 
New York for shipment to Europe. Importations from Europe 
and the manufactures of the eastern states must be distributed 
through the Mississippi valley and the West. Lake Michigan, 
extending far southward into the Mississippi valley and afford- 
ing water connection with New York and the seaboard, fixes the 
location of the great central city. This city must have a good 
harbor ; it must also be near the southern point of the lake, so 
as to connect with the great east and west railways. Chicago 
River furnished the harbor, and the enterprise of Chicago citi- 
zens has taken advantage of these opportunities to build the 



102 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

second city of the nation and to give it a growth surpassing 
in its rapidity any other. 

The Chicago Kiver rises southwest of the city very near the 
Des Moines River, which runs into the Mississippi. These 
streams are near together in places, and are united by swamps 
and ponds, so that sometimes in seasons of freshet the water 
from the Des Moines River floods the Chicago River. They 
made convenient waterways in the early times for canoes from 
the Great Lakes to the Mississippi, and this led to the estab- 
lishment of a fur-trading fort, afterwards a port, at the mouth 
of the Chicago River. At length, a canal connecting the 
Lakes and the Mississippi was built along the line of this 
waterway, and thus the location of the future great city was 
established. 

New York and Chicago control the east and west trade of 
the Northern States by reason of their advantageous situations, 
and as the east and west trade has been the main trade in the 
United States, these have become the two largest cities. 

The Mississippi River is a great commercial highway in the 
midst of the most productive valley of the world. 

At some point between the source of the Mississippi and its 
mouth it is necessary to have a depot, where the products of 
the cool temperate zone may be exchanged with those of the 
subtropical or southern temperate zone. There is need, too, 
of such a depot for the exchange of freights between the light 
draught steamers of the upper river and the deep draught and 
larger boats of the lower river and the Gulf. 

The Missouri opens the way to vast regions rapidly develop- 
ing, and connects these regions with the markets and manu- 
factures of the east and south. Where it enters the Mississippi 
River in the center of a great state is a location favorable 
to the growth of a great city. Just at the mouth of this river 
the banks are not suitable for the site of a city, and so at the 
nearest bluff down the river the city of St. Louis has developed. 



GREAT CITIES OF THE WEST. 103 

St. Louis was founded by the French in 1764, and was made 
the capital of Upper Louisiana. Its early recognition as the 
metropolis of this section of country has combined with its 
splendid natural advantages to make it the chief city on the 
Father of Waters. 

St. Louis is the lowest point on the Mississippi at which 
a bridge can be built. Hence it is the place where important 
railroads cross the river, and so by rail it has connections east 
and west, by the river north and south, and by the Missouri 
it reaches a large territory northwest. 

At the north near the headwaters of this great river are the 
twin cities Minneapolis and St. Paul; at the south near the 
Gulf is New Orleans. These three commercial centers at the 
north, the middle and the south, will probably always contain 
the great cities of the Mississippi valley. 

54. Great Cities of the West. 

In the center of the region west of the Mississippi, and 
about equidistant from the Lakes, the Gulf, and the Pacific, 
is Denver, the Queen City of the Plains, with a dozen lines 
of railway reaching to all parts of the country, and with a 
north and south road connecting all the east and west rail- 
roads between the Mississippi and the Pacific except the 
Northern Pacific. 

The great city of the Pacific coast is San Francisco. This 
city is to the Pacific section of the United States what New 
York is to the Atlantic. It has an excellent harbor, and is 
connected with the interior valley of the state of California 
by the Sacramento River running to San Francisco Bay from 
the north, and by the San Joaquin from the south. Its 
commerce reaches the Pacific coast of North and South Amer- 
ica, the eastern parts of the United States, and even China, 
Japan, and India. 



104 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

55. Government. 

The government of the United States is democratic, or 
republican, for both words mean the same thing. Either 
word means that the people choose their own officers and 
elect those who make their laws. 

I. City or town government. — The people of a town, or of a 
county, or of a city, choose their officers in town meeting, or 
at the county or city elections. 

II. State government. — The people of all the towns or coun- 
ties in a state, voting at the same time in many places, choose 
a governor and a legislature. The legislature makes laws for 
the state. The legislature is divided into two parts, which 
are usually called the Senate and House of representatives. 

III. National government. — The people of all the states 
voting on the same daj^ choose a President of the United 
States. The national legislature is called Congress. It is 
divided into two parts, called the Senate and House of 
Representatives. 

Each state has two senators. They are chosen by the 
state's legislature. All the people of each state elect their 
representatives in a number according to the population of 
the state. Delaware has one representative, New York State 
has thirty-four. Territories have no senators. Most of the 
territories send one delegate each to the House of Repre- 
sentatives, who can take part in the debates, but who has no 
vote. 

In still another way the government of the United States 
is divided into three parts. 

I. The Legislative Department; that is, Congress, the 
state legislatures, and the town meetings, which make the 
laws. 

II. The Judicial Department ; which includes the Chief 
Justice of the Supreme Court, and all other judges, town 



GEOGRAPHICAL INFLUENCES. 105 

justices of the peace, and all whose duty it is to explain what 
the laws mean ; to decide whether or not they have been 
broken, and to say what the punishment for the offense 
shall be. 

III. The Executive Department ; that is, the President, the 
state governors, the sheriffs, constables, and policemen, and 
all whose business it is to see that the laws are enforced. 

REFERENCES. 

Dawes : How We Are Governed. 
Dole : The American Citizen. 
Hinsdale : The American Government. 



57. Geographical Influences affecting American 

History. 

Discovery of the New World. — In the fifteenth century 
the chief maritime nations of Europe were Spain, Portugal, 
France, and England. When Constantinople, in the middle 
of the century, fell into the hands of the Turks, these nations 
sought to find a new route to India, for by way of Constan- 
tinople all the silks, spices, and luxuries of the East had 
hitherto been carried to the European countries. 

Towards the close of the century Christopher Columbus, 
an Italian by birth, was living in Lisbon, Portugal, and 
engaged in constructing maps and charts. He conceived 
the idea that by sailing westward he could reach India, 
and he applied to the governments of Genoa, Portugal, and 
England for aid to undertake such an expedition, but in vain. 
After several years of waiting, he succeeded in convincing the 
king and queen of Spain that his plan was a practicable one, 
and by them he was equipped with three small ships (see p. 00). 
He sailed westward from Palos, Spain, in August, .1492, and 
on October 12th discovered land. To the island on which he 



106 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



landed lie gave the name of San Salvador, an island which 
has since been identified as Watling Island, one of the 
Bahama group of the West Indies. 

Cuba and Haiti were also discovered by him before he re- 
turned to Spain. These lands received the name of the West 

Indies, because it was thought that 
the western part of India had been 
reached. 

Columbus made two other suc- 
cessful voyages. On his second 
voyage he discovered the Lesser 
Antilles and Jamaica, and on his 
third, in 1498, he went farther 
southward to the island of Trini- 
dad and the mouth of the Orinoco 
River in South America. 

Other discoveries followed rap- 
idly upon those of Columbus. In 
1499 Amerigo Vespucci explored the 
coast west of Trinidad, and dis- 
covered Lake Maracaibo. Here he 
found a little village built upon 
piles, and, as it reminded him of 
Venice in his native country, he- 
called it Venezuela (Little Venice). This name has been re- 
tained for the whole country. Amerigo was the first one to 
declare that it was a new world, and not Asia that had been 
reached, and for him the land received the name of America. 

It was not till 1522 that the circumnavigation of the earth 
by Spaniards under Magellan convinced every one that the 
earth is round. What strait reminds you of this man ? 

Meanwhile the Portuguese had reached India by sailing 
around Africa. By an agreement with Spain, Portugal con- 
fined her explorations to the East Indies, Africa, and Brazil. 




Statue of Columbus, Entrance Ad- 
ministration Building, Columbian 
Exposition. 



GEOGRAPHICAL INFLUENCES. 



107 



Spain and Portugal then held command of the south 
Atlantic and of the highways to the Indies both east and 
west. The northern maritime nations, therefore, attempted 
to find a northern highway to the Indies, either by the north- 
east passage, around Norway and along the Siberian coast, or 
the northwest passage, between Greenland and the north coast 
of America. 

Early Settlements. — As the New World was discovered by 
Columbus who was in the service of Spain, and as the land 
discovered was given by the Pope to Spain, the Spaniards 
were the first ones to make settlements in North America. 
The trade winds carried Columbus far to the south, and Span- 
ish voyagers found this the most 
convenient route to America. 
They sought gold and silver, and 
they found these in the southern 
lands which they subjugated. 
The climate, too, of these regions 
was much like that of Spain ; and 

so it came to pass that the West mSmW^^^^ J^ySMPm 
Indies, Florida, and the coast of /^M^^^^^^^wf^^^i! 
the Gulf around to Mexico were 
occupied by the Spaniards. 

Henry Hudson, in the service 
of a Dutch company, discovered 
the river which bears his name, 
and sailed to the head of tide water, where Albany now stands. 
In another voyage in the English service, while seeking a 
northwest passage, he discovered Hudson Bay and Hudson 
Strait. Because of his first discovery the Dutch claimed New 
York ; and because of his second, the English claimed North 
America north of the St. Lawrence basin. 

The French, the Dutch, and the English were the next 
nations to seek possession of portions of the New World. 




Amerigo Vespucci. 



108 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

The French were the most energetic in this enterprise and 
established colonies near the month of the St. John's River 
in Florida and near the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 

The Dutch took possession of the Hudson Eiver, which gave 
them a good chance to trade with the Indians, and more 
tardily the English took possession of Virginia and New Eng- 
land. This gave them a poor chance to get into the interior 
of the country; but for many years this did not matter. 

The French were speedily driven out of Florida by the Span- 
iards and they confined their efforts to the country at the 
mouth of the St. Lawrence and to those regions readily 
reached by boats passing up that river. 

The country was now claimed by four European powers: 
in Florida were the Spaniards, in Virginia the English, in 
New York the Dutch, in New England the English, and in 
Canada and through the great Mississippi valley the French. 

The Dutch were a commercial people, and their settlements 
were trading posts rather than colonies ; they were unable to 
defend themselves when the English laid claim to their pos- 
sessions. After their lands passed into the hands of the 
English, England held all the Atlantic seaboard from New 
England to Florida, and to this coast plain it was long con- 
fined, owing to the geographical features of the country. 

French and English Rivalry. — The St. Lawrence and the 
Hudson with the Mohawk afforded the only routes from the 
Atlantic to the interior. The ranges of the Appalachian Moun- 
tains prevented the English from moving westward and set- 
tling beyond. These ranges are very long, and the water 
gaps which pierce each range are not opposite one another. 
On foot or on horseback one could make his way across the 
labyrinth of ridges, as the native Indians did, but the dense 
forests with their tangle of brushwood closely knit together 
by vines, the swamps, the dense ravines filled with fallen 
timber and rocks, the cataracts, and steep mountain slopes all 



GEOGRAPHICAL INFLUENCES. 109 

proved effectual barriers to people encumbered with house- 
hold goods. 

They could sail up the Hudson and advance along the Mo- 
hawk valley, as they did for a hundred miles, but the land was 
boggy and densely wooded, and farther west were the tribes of 
the Six Nations, the most warlike of the Indians. 

Hence the English, deterred from moving westward, built 
up strong colonies along the Atlantic plain. In the many wars 
between the French and Indians on one side and the English 
on the other, the mountain ranges prevented any success on 
either side from being decisive, for it could not be followed 
up, owing to the great wilderness intervening between the 
antagonists. 

No mountain range hindered the French from advancing 
from Lake Erie by a short portage to Chautauqua Lake and 
then down the Alleghany and Ohio to the Mississippi. They 
made friends with the Indians and established at well-selected 
sites about sixty trading forts, some of which have since 
developed into cities, as at Detroit, Fort Wayne, Pittsburg, 
Toledo, New Orleans. 

But the entire number of French settlers in the Mississippi 
valley was small, and they did not gain from the Spainards 
the possession of the mouth of the Mississippi River until after 
the English had far outgrown them in numbers and power. 

The claim of the French to all the land west of the Alle- 
ghanies was met by a rival claim of the English to all land 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific. These rival claims led to war 
which finally involved most of the nations of Europe. Pitts- 
burg, at the junction of the Alleghany and Monongahela Rivers, 
which unite to form the Ohio River, is located at a point which 
made it of special value both to the French and to the English. 
Commanding the navigation of the three rivers, it would, in 
the hands of the English, cut the French off from their most 
convenient entrance to the Mississippi valley. 



110 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



By a treaty signed in 1763, all the land east of the Missis- 
sippi River was given to England, and all west of that river 
to Spain. 

There were now thirteen colonies under the control of Eng- 
land : Massachusetts. New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Con- 
necticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, 
Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Geor- 
gia. These became independent of England at the close of the 
Revolutionary War in 1783. To the new Republic then formed 



133 3 



£ 




^SwtV 8 »° %i>-----x3 — \ 1848 LW 

/ 86 ° \a^-f---ptT^P\%! 1821 V-1792/V 3--^ 

'.FLORIDA 



fATvASMA, 1SG7) 

ftO( ' < :: OF TERRITORY. 



Fig. 33. 



was granted all the land east of the Mississippi and south of 
the Great Lakes, Canada alone remaining in the possession of 
the English. 

Growth of the United States. — It was foreseen that new 
states would be formed in the land west of the Alleghanies, 
hitherto almost unknown to the English, for the Constitution 
stated how such states should be admitted. 

After the Revolutionary War, the people of Virginia and 
Maryland, tillers of the soil, sought new land westward. They 
had already settled in the Shenandoah valley, and moving 
thence south westward to the headwaters of the Roanoke, they 
passed over the ridges of the Alleghanies into the valley of the 



GEOGRAPHICAL INFLUENCES. Ill 

upper Kanawha, up this stream to the headwaters of the Ten- 
nessee and to Cumberland Gap, which brought them to the 
fertile district of the Ohio River valley. 

In this way Kentucky, Tennessee, and parts of Ohio were 
occupied, while the people from New England moved west- 
ward, following the parallels of latitude, and settled in Ohio 
and neighboring states along the navigable rivers. 

The Spaniards were unable to colonize their possessions 
west of the Mississippi and transferred them to Prance. From 
France in 1803 the United States purchased all this province, 
which extended from the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains 
and from Texas to British America, for about fifteen million 
dollars. "Probably the largest transaction in real estate the 
world has ever known. " A few years later Florida was also 
purchased from Spain. 

The Great Mississippi valley was rapidly settled, and by 
means of flat-boats the produce raised was floated down the 
Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and found a market among the 
southern cities. There the boats were usually broken up for 
lumber, for to pole or row them back against the currents was 
too laborious. The products obtained in exchange were shipped 
around to the Atlantic coast, then taken over the mountains 
and into the Ohio valley. In 1811 the first steamboat was 
used ; the gain in time seemed marvelous ; the growth of the 
settlements was equally rapid, and this central land soon 
became cut up into states. 

The era of steamboats was followed by that of railroads. 
These were built with amazing rapidity. The tide of emigra- 
tion reached the prairies and progress thenceforward was 
easier and more rapid; there were no forests to subdue, and 
the open country was quickly settled. 

The southwestern part of North America was claimed by 
Mexico, but Mexico, agitated by civil wars, was able neither 
to colonize nor to defend her possessions. Texas finally 



112 GBAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

declared itself independent, and in 1845 was annexed to the 
United States. This brought on a war with Mexico by which 
New Mexico and Upper California were gained by the United 
States. 

The discovery of gold in California in 1848 gave a great 
impetus to emigration to the Pacific coast. Men found their 
way thither by sailing around Cape Horn. The route across 
the Isthmus of Panama was used as well as the wagon roads 
across the plains, until at last, in 1872, the first railroad was 
completed between the Pacific coast and Mississippi valley. 

Such a migration as that which took place to California had 
never before been known in the world's history. At the close 
of the year following the first discovery of gold nuggets, over 
a hundred thousand had come from neighboring territories, 
from across the continent, from Mexico, Australia, and the 
Old World. California became a state, and San Francisco 
suddenly became the great mart of the Pacific coast. 

The northwestern corner of the United States, called the 
Oregon Country, was for a long time claimed and held as joint 
property by the United States and Great Britain. Near the 
middle of the century, however, it was agreed that all land 
north of the 49th parallel should belong to Great Britain, and 
all south of it to the United States. Prom this region two 
states have been formed, — Oregon and Washington. 

This map on p. 000 shows the states that have been formed, 
and gives the dates of their admission to the Union. 

These western states of our country have been thus rapidly 
settled not only by the emigration of people from the eastern 
part (usually along parallels of latitude), but also by the arrival 
of a vast number of immigrants from the Old World. More 
than sixteen millions of immigrants have come to our country 
since 1820, and their average annual number during recent 
years is over half a million. 

This increase of population has made our cities grow rap- 



GEOGRAPHICAL INFLUENCES. 



113 



idly. After New York had been founded one hundred and 
fifty years it had only thirty thousand ; Cincinnati grew to 
three hundred thousand in a hundred years, and Chicago 
gained a million in about fifty years. The gradual movement 
of the center of population westward with the growth of the 
west may be seen in the following map. Where was the 
center of population in 1790 ? In 1890 ? 




Pittsburgh Harrisbur 



Ch'arlesto&S -q **""/*" 




Fig. 34. 

Alaska, which had long been occupied by the Russian Fur 
Trading Company as a hunting ground, was purchased by the 
United States from Russia in 1867, and added as a territory. 

The other territories of the United States are New Mexico, 
Arizona, Oklahoma, and Indian Territory. 



REVIEW QUESTIONS. 

What are maritime nations ? Which were the chief maritime 
nations in the fifteenth century ? Which are now the chief maritime 
nations ? 

When did the Turks capture Constantinople ? What effect on com- 
merce did this capture have ? 

Who was Christopher Columbus ? What plan did he form ? What 
help did he obtain ? What success did he have '? What land did he dis- 
cover first ? When ? Why were these islands called West Indies ? 

Who besides Columbus made discoveries in the New World ? Who 
made the first circumnavigation of the earth ? When ? What does cir- 
cumnavigation mean ? 

About what time did the Portuguese sail around Africa ? What agree- 
ment as to exploration did Spain and Portugal make ? What effect on 

H 



114 GEAMMAB SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

other nations did this agreement have ? What is meant by a northeast 
passage ? By a northwest passage ? Why did the Spaniards make their 
explorations along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea ? 

What discoveries did Henry Hudson make ? What claims were 
founded on his discoveries ? 

When did the Spaniards make their first settlements ? The French ? 
The Dutch ? The English ? What nation gained possession of the 
Dutch settlements ? 

How were the English shut out from the interior ? 

How did the French gain access to the interior ? 

What cities have developed from early French trading forts ? Why 
did the French locate forts at these points ? 

[All these cities have French names except Pittsburg, which was taken 
early by the English and re-named.] Why were the English specially 
anxious to get hold of Pittsburg ? 

What land purchase did the United States make in 1803 ? 

When was the first steamboat run on the Mississippi ? 

When did Texas join the United States ? What other gain of territory 
from Mexico followed ? 

What effect on the settlement of the Pacific coast resulted from the 
discovery of gold in California ? 

When was Alaska purchased ? 

Of how many states and territories does the United States now con- 
sist ? What is its area ? What is its population ? 

REFERENCES. 

Hinsdale : The Old Northwest. 

MacCoi n : Historical Geography of the United States. 

Around the World, April, 1894: Ancient Inhabitants of America. 

Scribner's Magazine, July, 1894: American Cave Dwellers. 

57. New England States. 

(Part II., p. 00.) 

In what part of the United States are the New England States ? 

What state is directly west of them ? What country north of them ? 
What part of Europe is directly east of them ? 

What parallel forms part of their northern boundary ? How far north 
do they extend ? What part of the coast has many inlets ? Islands ? 



NEW ENGLAND STATES. 115 

In which of the five great regions of the United States is New Eng- 
land ? See p. 00. 

What mountains in this section ? Which state has no mountains ? 

In what direction do the rivers of New England run ? What is their 
chief river ? Describe it. 

What is the average temperature in Maine ? Is the climate of New 
England extreme or equable ? Has this section a moist or a dry climate ? 
At what season of the year is there the greatest rainfall ? 

Which state has a peninsula ? Which has no seacoast ? 

Which state is partly in the St. Lawrence basin ? 

This is the smallest group of states in the Union. Texas 
alone is four times as large as all the New England States. 
The average area of a Pacific or Mountain state is about ten 
times the average area of a New England state. 

The coast in this section was much broken by the action of 
the ice cap, and it abounds in good harbors. Along the shores, 
which are bold and rocky on the east, but low and sandy 
south of Massachusetts Bay, there are many islands. 

As these states lie north of the drift line, their soil shows 
the effect of the great movements of the ice age. It is stony, 
because the broken rock fragments were left when the ice 
melted. Beneath the surface soil there is a hard clay except 
in places w r here this has been worn away. 

All the mountains except the White Mountains were cov- 
ered by the ice sheet, and their summits rounded off by the 
movement of the ice to the southeast. 

Along the drift line on the Atlantic coast from Massachu- 
setts Bay southward are many rounded gravel hills and long 
ridges of earth pushed up by the ice as it moved along. 

Where the rock was softer than elsewhere, it was hollowed 
out. Many of these hollows are now filled with w r ater, par- 
ticularly in Maine, which is a region of lakes. 

When these states were first settled, the soil, poor as it is, 
furnished farm products in sufficient quantities to supply all 



116 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

the people; now the great agricultural regions of the west 
send their products eastward, and in some sections of New 
England many of the farms have been abandoned. A great 
many of the native workmen, as well as the farmers, have 
emigrated to the west, and French Canadians have come to 
take their places. The use of petroleum has caused the 
whaling vessels to disappear ; the introduction of iron vessels 
has almost put an end to the building of wooden ships, once 
so great an industry of this section; the manufacturing of 
iron and steel in the regions where iron and coal are found has 
almost destroyed this industry in New England ; the compet- 
ing cotton manufactures of the south now threaten the New 
England manufacture. But notwithstanding all this, New 
England is increasing in population and wealth. 

Manufactures of many kinds occupy the greater part of its 
dense population. What do you know about the manufactur- 
ing of woolen and cotton goods in New England ? Connec- 
ticut is the leading state in the manufacture of hardware. 
Connecticut makes more clocks and Massachusetts more boots 
and shoes than are made in all the other states. Machinery, 
jewelry, rubber goods, and all kinds of small wares are made 
in southern New England. 

There are manufactures of some kind in nearly every town 
of New England except in northern Maine, New Hampshire, 
and Vermont, and there the population is not increasing. 
Lumbering is a great industry in these northern states. Dairy 
farming is extensively carried on. Granite quarries are worked 
in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts. 
Marble and slate are quarried in Vermont, slate and lime- 
stone in Maine, and red sandstone in Connecticut. 

Massachusetts, Ehode Island, and Connecticut have more 
cities, more people, more schools and colleges, more railroads, 
more ships, more factories, than any other equal area of the 
United States. Each is a very wealthy state. 



NEW ENGLAND STATES. 



117 




From what country did the colonists of New England come ? 
The first permanent settlement was made in Massachusetts. 
Maine was at first a part of Massachusetts, and did not be- 
come a separate state for two hundred years. Vermont 
became a separate state in 1791, having before formed a part 
of New York and New Hampshire. In 
1636 Roger Williams made the first settle- 
ment in Rhode Island at Providence. 

Maine. — There are over 1500 beautiful 
lakes in Maine, covering one-tenth of its 
surface. Moosehead Lake is the largest. 

What have you learned about the earlier 
industries of Maine, about the pine forests, Flif * 35 ' 

the sheep-raising, fishing, the cotton and woolen manufactures ? 
Portland is the largest city of Maine and one of the chief 
commercial cities of New England. It has one of the best 

and most beauti- 
ful harbors of the 
United States. In 
winter, Quebec and 
Liverpool steamers 
ply between Liver- 
pool and Portland. 
Bangor, on the 
Penobscot, is the 
chief lumber mar- 
ket in New Eng- 
land. Augusta is 
the capital. Bar 
Harbor on Mount Desert Island is a famous summer resort. 

New Hampshire. — How does this state rank in cotton and 
woolen manufactures ? 

New Hampshire is noted for its beautiful lake and moun- 
tain scenery. Mount Washington, the highest peak of the 




Jam of Logs. 



118 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



QUEBEC ftji 
„ (CC\ 

^ (X \ MAiisJi: 

<m 

! u /I^^conc 



White Mountains, is over 6000 feet high and affords a more 
extensive view than any other mountain east of the Rocky 

Mountains. Throughout this mountain 
region there are famous summer resorts. 

Although this state has only 18 miles of 
seacoast, it has at Portsmouth a good har- 
bor. Here, on the Maine side, is located 
one of the navy yards of the United States. 
Here are dry docks and workshops where 
Flg ' 36, government ships may be built or repaired 

or furnished with supplies, and where marines are stationed. 
Manchester, the largest city, manufactures fire-engines and 
cotton goods. Concord is the capital. 

Vermont. — Vermont is chiefly a grazing state. What 
rank has it as a sheep-raising and wool-manufacturing state ? 
More maple sugar is made in Vermont than 
in any other state. 

The Green Mountains of Vermont are 
much lower than the White Mountains of 
New Hampshire. Lake Champlain is a 
beautiful sheet of water separating Ver- 
mont and New York and extending into 
Canada. On this lake is situated Ver- 
mont's largest city, Burlington, which has a large lumber trade. 

Montpelier is the capital. 
Massachusetts. — What rank has Massa- 
chusetts as a manufacturing state ? What 
have you learned about its manufacture of 
cotton, woolen, iron and steel, foundry 
products, clothing, leather ? About its to- 
bacco, fish ? 

To Massachusetts belong the islands of 
Martha's Vineyard and of Nantucket. 

Through the Hoosac Mountains in the western part of the 




Fig. 37. 



! h 


/ N. HAMPJ 


f ( 


! > 


w/i 


j 

i 


{ LowelFo / 


wk 


I 

jc O ] 


jr c <* 


50Q\ 




'^g>f7^ > ( o 


w 



Fig. 38. 



NEW ENGLAND STATES. 



119 



state a railway tunnel five miles long has been constructed, 
one of the longest in the world. 

What have you learned about Boston, the capital of Massa- 
chusetts ? How large a city is it ? In and about Boston 
happened most of the important events of the beginning 
of the Revolution. Bunker Hill is within the city limits. 
Lexington and Concord are but a few miles away. 

Worcester, the second city in size, and 
Lowell and Fall River are large manufac- 
turing cities. 

Rhode Island. — Rhode Island is the 
smallest state in the Union. What have 
you learned about its industries ? 

It has two capitals, Providence, the sec- 
ond city in New England and a great 
manufacturing center, and Newport, a noted summer resort. 

Connecticut. — Connecticut has good 
farming land in its river valley. W r hat 
are the products of this valley ? How does 
Connecticut compare with other states in 
the manufacture of cotton and woolen 
goods, iron and steel ? 

Hartford, the capital, is situated on the 
Connecticut River at the head of naviga- 




Fig. 39. 




Fig. 40. 

tion. New Haven is the largest city 



58. Middle Atlantic States. 

(Part II., p. 00.) 



Which is the most northern of these states ? The most southern ? 
What parallels bound them ? 

In what regions of the United States is this section ? In what basin 
is the northern part ? The eastern ? The western ? 

What section west of them ? Northeast of them ? South of them ? 



120 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY, 

How wide is the Atlantic plain in this section ? 

How wide the Appalachian system ? 

Which states border on the Great Lakes ? Which has many lakes 
within it ? Where is Delaware Bay ? Chesapeake Bay ? For what 
product is Chesapeake Bay famous ? 

What are the great rivers of this section ? Describe each. 

What have you learned about the average temperature of northern 
New York ? What is it in Virginia ? 

What do you know about the winds in this part of the United States ? 
About the rainfall ? 

How does the amount of rain in this section compare with that of the 
states north of them ■? 

This section includes the states along the coast from New 
England to North Carolina, together with Pennsylvania, West 
Virginia, and the District of Columbia, It is the chief com- 
mercial section of the United States. 

Through this section runs the Appalachian system of moun- 
tains. In the northern part of New York the mountains of 
this system are called the Adirondacks and are noted for 
their picturesque scenery and wild and rugged character. 
Betw r een the Mohawk and the Delaware rivers are the Cat- 
skill Mountains. Both the Adirondack and the Catskill 
Mountains afford delightful summer resorts for the people 
of the large cities. 

In Pennsylvania, the eastern ranges of the Appalachian 
system are called the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the western 
the Alleghany Mountains. There are also smaller parallel 
ranges. 

What part of this section was once covered by the ice cap ? 
How does the soil of this part difer from that south of the 
drift line? Long Island is a greM, gravel bank pushed np 
by the ice cap. 

Trace the Delaware River. Notice that the Lehigh River 
runs through the mountains and opens a way to the coal 
mines. 



MIDDLE ATLANTIC STATES. 121 

What rivers of the Atlantic system have their source west 
of the Appalachian highlands ? The Hudson Eiver is con- 
nected by canals with Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, Lake Cham- 
plain, and the Delaware Eiver. Trace these canals. Why 
were they constructed? What influence on the commerce 
of New York do you think they have ? 

The portion of this section in the St. Lawrence basin is de- 
voted to agriculture ; that on the Atlantic slope chiefly to 
manufacturing and commerce; the part in the Mississippi 
basin to mining and lumbering. 

What facilities for commerce, foreign and domestic, have 
these states ? 

New York. — What have you learned about the produc- 
tion of wheat, oats, rye, in ISTew York ? Of pears and 
apples ? Of iron, oil, and salt? About its 
cattle and dairy products ? About its man- 
ufactures of cotton and woolen goods, cloth- 
ing, leather, iron, and steel ? 

New York is the "Empire State." In 
what respects does it rank first among the 
states ? Who settled New York ? 

Besides its picturesque mountain scenery, Flg ' 41 " 

this state has beautiful falls, rivers, and lakes. Where is 
Niagara Rapids and Falls? 

No other falls have so immense a volume of water pouring over them 
as flows over Niagara Falls. The constant movement of the water 
has slowly worn away the rock over which it rushes, until now the Falls 
are about seven miles back from where they originally stood. This tre- 
mendous water power is nearly equal to all the water and steam power 
used in the United States ; a small part is now being used to generate 
electrical power (pp. 00, 00). 

There is an almost continuous natural waterway between New York 
City and the great cities of Canada ; hence along this line many of the 
battles of the French and Indian wars and of the Revolutionary War 
were fought. Many forts were built, as Fort Crown Point on the shore 




A * 



* <^ \1 '1 

sX J * 

P JZ N N. A2a 



122 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

of Lake Champlain, Fort Ticonderoga, where Lakes Champlain and George 
meet, Fort William Henry, at the npper end of Lake George, and others 
along the Hudson (Part II. , p. 00) . 

The Hudson is one of the most beautiful rivers in the world. It is a 
steamboat ride of 150 miles from Troy, at the head of navigation, to New 
York City, at the river's mouth. A short distance below Troy, Albany, 
the capital of the state, is passed. Its capitol is one of the finest build- 
ings in the country (00:00). Next, the Catskills are in sight, with 
the great hotels showing like little white dots on the mountain side. 
Rondout is the terminus of the Delaware and Hudson Canal, which 
brings coal from Pennsylvania. From here ships and barges carry coal 
to the New England ports. Poughkeepsie is half way to New York. 
Here the boat passes under a high bridge by which railway trains cross 
the river. Then the Highlands are passed, the mountains coming to the 
very water's edge; and here, at a bend in the river, is Westpoint, the 
site of the United States Academy, where young men are trained to be 
officers in the army. At Sing-Sing is a famous state-prison, close to the 
water's edge. At Tarrytown, Washington Irving lived; and in the sur- 
rounding country are the scenes of many of his stories. Then, for fifteen 
miles, the right bank of the river is bordered by the perpendicular cliffs 
called the Palisades, and soon New York City, the Metropolis of the 
country, is reached. 

Au Sable Chasm, in northeastern New York, and Watkins' Glen, in 
southern New York, are deep rifts in the rocks through which rivers 
flow. In the west these rifts would be called canyons (00:00). 

What have you learned about New York City and Brooklyn ? 
What cities are commercially a part of New York City ? 

Buffalo and Bochester are large cities. Where is each lo- 
cated ? At Syracuse salt is manufactured. Saratoga Springs 
has valuable mineral springs, and is a famous summer resort. 

The island of Long Island belongs to New York state. 

New Jersey. — A line drawn from Jersey City to Trenton, 
the capital of the state, would divide New Jersey into a 
northern, hilly, undulating country having large, important 
manufacturing cities, and a southern sandy plain, well adapted 
for gardening and for peaches and small fruits. The market 



MIDDLE ATLANTIC STATES. 



123 



gardens of this part of the state supply the millions of inhabi- 
tants of the cities near New Jersey. 

New Jersey ranks first among the states in silk manufact- 
ures. What have you learned about its 
production of wheat, tobacco, iron ? Its 
woolen, cotton, steel, and pig-iron manu- 
factures are very great. 

Newark and Jersey City are the largest 
cities. Long Branch, Atlantic City, and 
Cape May are noted seashore resorts. 

Pennsylvania. — Pennsylvania is called 
the " Keystone State," because of the thirteen original colonies 

six were on either side of Pennsylvania, 
and thus this state had the same relative 
position as the keystone of an arch. 

P^NiySYL^ANIA 
rWPittsbunr /J?F ( 




Fig. 42. 





HARRISBUR'Gte 

Philadelphia 



Fig. 43. 



The mountain chains of the Alleghany system 
have their greatest width in this state. The scen- 
ery among these mountains is very picturesque, as 
the views in Part II., p. 00 show you. Where the 
Delaware River crosses the Blue Mountains is the 

beautiful Delaware Water Gap, two miles long. This gorge is the work 

of ages. 

East of the mountain chains the land is rolling, and near the* 
rivers quite level. West of the mountains is a broad plateau 
with valuable timber lands. 

This is the first state of the Union in mineral productions, 
and the second in the value of manufactures and in popula- 
tion. 

What proportion of the coal supply of the United States 
comes from Pennsylvania ? What have you learned about 
this state's production of wheat, rye, oats, tobacco ? About 
the rearing of sheep and cattle here ? 

Besides the iron and steel manufactures, there are extensive 
manufactures of machinery, lumber and its products, sugar and 



124 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY, 



niolasses, flour, leather, carpets, cotton and woolen goods, and 
ships. 

The capital of Pennsylvania is Harrisburg. 

What do you 
know about Phila- 
delphia ? What 
took place at Inde- 
pendence Hall ? 

Pittsburg is an 
important manu- 
facturing city, for 
it has the four great 
ag^^^^^^^ advantages of coal 




Entrance to a Coal Mine. 



mines, gas wells, 
iron mines, and 
rail and river transportation. What manufactures may you 
expect here ? Can you give any reason why Pittsburg makes 
great quantities of iron rails, while Provi- 
dence, R.I., makes fine tools ? 

Delaware. — Delaware has a soil and cli- 
mate especially adapted for peaches, apples, 
and small fruits. Manufactures are many, 
especially of rolled iron, iron and wooden 
ships, gunpowder, flour and meal, and 

leather. 

Dover is the capital, 
only large city. 

Maryland. — In Maryland, Chesapeake 
Bay, like Narragansett Bay in Rhode 
Island, extends far inland and furnishes 
valuable facilities for commerce. The 
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal crosses the 




PENNSY L, VAN I A 




<i,y a 



Fig. 44. 

Wilmington is the 



Fig. 45. 



Potomac River and follows the Virginia shore to Alexandria. 
Tobacco, wheat, corn, dairy products, peaches, small fruits, 



MIDDLE ATLANTIC STATES. 125 

and vegetables are the staple products of the state. The min- 
eral products are of great variety. Cotton is manufactured. 

Annapolis is the capital. Here is the United States Naval 
Academy, where young men are trained for officers in the 
navy. What have you learned about Baltimore ? 

District of Columbia. — On the Maryland side of the Potomac 
are 64 square miles which form the District of Columbia. 
Here is Washington, the capital of the United States, located 
at the head of navigation on the Potomac. 

For pictures of some of the fine bindings of this city, see pp. 00, 00, of 
Part II. 

The people of this District have no vote in matters of the 
District or of the nation. The District is under the man- 
agement of three commissioners, and its 
laws are made by Congress. 

Virginia. — Virginia is called the " Old 
Dominion/' because it was the oldest of the 
thirteen colonies. 



Another name for Virginia is the "Mother of 
Presidents," for in this state seven presidents 
of the United States were born, — Washing 



k ^f-°^'RICHMOND^ 
KY.V 45p -^. f^_ 
V V#l H Norfolk 5 ^ 

•v v >^ N. CAROLINA JS 



Fig. 46. 

ton, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Harrison, Tyler, and Taylor. 



L c 



How does Virginia rank among the states in the production 
of wheat, corn, tobacco, apples ? What do you know about 
its coal and iron mines ? 

The Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal is the last of the 
series of ship canals which make it possible for vessels to go 
from Long Island Sound to the sounds of North Carolina 
without venturing into the open sea. 

The land of Virginia descends to the sea in terraces from 
the west. In the southeastern part is Dismal Swamp, a valu- 
able lumber region. 



126 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

In a limestone country there are often underground rivers which dis- 
solve the rocks and make caves, for limestone or marble is one of the 
softer kinds of rock. Virginia has two of the most beautiful caves in the 
country, — Luray Cave and Weyer's Cave. 

Sometimes part of the roof of a cave falls in and the remainder makes 
a natural bridge. In the western part of the state is the Natural Bridge 
of Virginia, a beautiful arch 200 feet above the little river which flows 
into James River (00 : 00). 

Where the Potomac cuts through the Blue Ridge is Harper's Ferry, 
and you can see by the picture (p. 00) how beautiful is the scenery here. 

Finely situated on the Potomac is Mount Vernon, the home 
of Washington. His house contains many relics, and not far 
from the house is his tomb (00 : 00). 

Richmond, the capital, is also the largest city of the state. 
West Virginia. — West Virginia was separated from Virginia 
and made a state in 1863. 

Its surface is mountainous and much like 
that of western Pennsylvania. The soil is 
exceedingly fertile. What do you know 
about the production of wheat, corn, to- 
bacco, in this state ? About sheep-raising ? 
About its forests ? 
Fl °* 47 ' In proportion to its size it is the richest 

state in the Union in coal, oil, and salt. 

Wheeling, the largest city, has blast furnaces and iron 
foundries. Charleston is the capital. 



59. The Southeastern States. 

(Part II., p. 00.) 

Name the Southeastern States. In what part of the United States are 
they ? What two sections north of them ? What section west of them ? 

What parallel bounds this section on the north ? What part of Africa 
is directly east ? 







THE SOUTHEASTERN STATES. 127 

Which of these states has no seacoast ? Which two have but little 
seacoast ? Which state has most seacoast ? 

In what three of the regions of the United States are the southeastern 
states ? How wide is the Altantic plain in these states ? Where is the 
southern end of the Appalachian system ? 

What is the amount of rain in this section ? At which season does 
most rain fall ? Is any part within the trade wind zone ? Is the climate 
extreme or equable ? 

The surface of these states is low and level except where 
broken by the southern extremity of the Appalachian sys- 
tem. From this point the land slopes east, south, and west. 

Much of the land along the coast is swampy. 

Along the coast are many long, low islands, parallel to the 
mainland. How far north do these islands extend ? How 
far south ? Do they assist or hinder navigation ? 

Back from the low coastal plain the land is higher and 
sandy. A belt of hard pine, thirty to ninety miles in width, 
skirts the coastal plain. What materials do these pine trees 
furnish? 

What is cultivated on the low coast lands ? What is grown 
on the islands ? 

These states, together with the southwestern states, raise 
more cotton than is raised in all the rest of the w r orld. Which 
three states produce the most ? 

What products are raised along the Gulf ? All these states 
have large crops of peaches, Georgia raising more than any other 
state in the Union. All except Florida raise large amounts of 
corn, and all except Florida and South Carolina have large 
flocks of sheep. Sweet potatoes are an important product. 

Manufactures, especially of cotton, are increasing, but 
agriculture is still the leading industry. 

North Carolina. — The eastern coastal plain of North Caro- 
lina has valuable pine forests and excellent farming land ; 
the central and western part is rich in mineral products. 



128 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 




Fie. 48. 



NORTH CAROLINA 



Between the ocean and Albemarle and Pamlico sounds 
lie long, narrow, sandy islands. Part of the Great Dismal 

Swamp extends into North Carolina, and 
swamps cover nearly 4000 square miles in 
this state. 

Mount Mitchell, one of the peaks of the 
Black Mountains, in the western part, is 
the highest peak in the country east of the 
Rockies. 

Raleigh is the capital, and Wilming- 
ton the largest city. 

South Carolina. — South Carolina is called the " Palmetto 
State," for there are many palm trees in this state. All the 
products of the south flourish here, but rice 
and sugar-cane are the chief products. 
What is the chief manufacture of the 
state ? 

Except in the swampy and rice-growing 
regions, the climate is mild and healthful, 
and in the pine lands there are noted 
health resorts. lg ' 

Charleston is an important seaport. It has a fine harbor. 
Columbia is the capital. 

Georgia. — Georgia is rich in minerals. Marble, iron and 
coal, building stones and slate, are abun- 
dant. What are its chief agricultural 
products? What is its chief manufac- 
ture? 

In the region of foot-hills there are many 
beautiful falls and cataracts (pp. 00, 00). 

Atlanta, the capital and largest town, is 
an important railroad center. 
Savannah is built upon the first high land the settlers found 
as they sailed up the river. 





Fig. 50. 



THE SOUTHEASTERN STATES. 



129 



Florida. — Florida is one of the largest states east of the 
Mississippi. What other one is a little larger? Its great 
extent may be seen by the following map. 

Along the Atlantic coast of 
Florida there are long sand 
bars, and at the south there is 
a continuous coral reef, broken 
now and then by channels. The 
name given to this reef is the 
Florida Keys, the word "key" 
coming from the Spanish word 
cayo, which means island. Can 
you tell why there are many 
Spanish names in this state and 
none in New England ? 

Some of the islands are cov- 
ered with a tropical vegetation. 
The southern part of the penin- 
sula is the work of coral insects, Flg ' 51 * 
and was once separated from the mainland, as the Florida 
Keys now are. This great tract, called the Everglades, has 
shallow channels of water running in all directions. Wooded 
islands and grass regions, swamps, lakes, and beautiful springs 

abound in Florida. 

Florida is a peninsula, and, therefore, 
has a climate different from the other por- 
tions of eastern North America, 

This peninsula projects southward into 
the warm Gulf, and has the Gulf Stream 
flowing on its eastern shores. Its winter 
climate is therefore remarkably mild, while 
its summer season is long, but of moderate temperature. From 
these causes it becomes a pleasant winter resort, a place of 
escape from the severe winters of the north, a land of orange 



* 






^—■/e? ^~\ 




^ ! 1 








L--r >^ 


^"^^^^^m^ 


S"""" 


y^ 


V, i >^P1| 




\j 


yV _ *c3 

L j~" S 

J—~i l " \ 


C/ 




/ i \ ; X 
j i \ 






( ' 1 

) i . \ 








Fig. 52. 



130 



GBAMMAB SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 




Fig. 53. 



groves, of pineapples and cocoanuts ; a true tropical region, the 

only one in the United States, except Southern California on 

the Pacific coast. 

Tallahassee is the capital. Jacksonville is the largest city. 
What is the oldest town? Key West is 
the chief market for sponges. 

Alabama. — The northern part of Alabama 
is hilly and contains coal and iron. Ala- 
bama ranks second among the states in the 
amount of iron produced, and has impor- 
tant iron and steel manufactures. The 
central part of the state is agricultural 

and the southern part is crossed by a timber belt. 

Montgomery is the capital, and Mobile is the largest city. 
Mississippi. — There are no mountains in this state. The 

highest land is in the northeast and slopes 

gradually to the Gulf and the Mississippi. 

A line of bluffs extending north and south 

through the center of the state forms a 

watershed. Why are the low lands be- 



Fig. 54. 

tween the bluffs 
and the Missis- 





sippi. 



the bottom 



Picking Cotton, Mississippi. 



lands, so fertile? 
For what product 
is this state spe- 
cially noted ? It 
has important woolen manufactures. Jackson is the capital. 
Tennessee. — Eastern Tennessee is mountainous, and has 
valuable mines of coal and iron, zinc ore and copper, and also 
marble quarries. Central Tennessee is undulating, and is a 



SOUTHWESTERN STATES. 



131 



blue grass region, devoted to wheat, corn, hemp, tobacco, and 
live stock. Western Tennessee is low and level, the soil is 
alluvial, and devoted to cotton and tobacco 
raising. 

What is the chief manufacture carried 
on? 

What fruit is extensively cultivated ? 

The Cumberland River is navigable for 
large steamers to Nashville, the capital of the 
state, and much farther for smaller boats. 

Memphis is one of the important cotton markets of the 
country. Lookout Mountain above Chattanooga gives a fine 
view of the Tennessee River and surrounding country (p. ). 




Fig. 55. 



60. Southwestern States. 

(Part II., p. oo- ) 



In what region of the United 



How far south do these states extend ? 
States are they ? 

What two large branches of the Mississippi in this section ? 

Which extends farthest south, Texas or Florida ? Which of the South- 
western states are coast states ? Which inland ? 

Three states and two territories constitute this group. 
The only mountains are the Ozark Mountains in the north- 
western part of Arkansas. What minerals 
do they contain? Northwestern Texas 
and Oklahoma are high and very dry. 
Describe the climate of this section ? 

Louisiana. — Louisiana has many bayous, 
a name given in this state to a sluggish 
stream or a side outlet of a river. The 
northern and western parts of the state are 
upland having fertile land and heavy forests. What is the 
only state that is more heavily wooded ? 




Fig. 56. 



132 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



The Delta of the Mississippi is bottom land and exceed- 
ingly fertile. How has this land been made ? More sugar- 
cane and rice are raised in Louisiana than in any other state. 
What other important products of the state ? 

What have you learned about ]STew Orleans ? At this city 
the river is very wide, and great levees have been built to keep 
it from overflowing the city. A large proportion of the in- 
habitants of the city, and indeed, of the Delta, are Creoles, — 
people of French and Spanish descent, who speak the French 
language. 

Every spring New Orleans has a Carnival, and the illustration, p. 00, 
shows you a procession which takes place on the day before Lent, called 
by the Creoles Mardi Gras. 

Baton Rouge is the capital of the state. 
Arkansas. — What mineral is obtained in this state ? What 
fruit is raised extensively ? What are the other important 

products ? 

The surface of this state slopes from the 
Ozark and other mountains in the western 
part to the low land in the eastern part 
with its lakes, bayous, and swamps. There 
are many hot and mineral springs in Arkan- 
sas, the most famous being at Hot Springs ; 
here there are about a hundred springs 
ranging from 100 to 160 degrees in tem- 
perature. 

Little Rock is the capital and largest 
town. 

Texas. — Texas is the largest state in 
the Union. How much larger it is than 
any of the eastern states may be observed 
from the map on the next page (Fig. 59). 
The land is chiefly prairie. In the western part of the state is 
the desert plateau called the "Staked Plain," because the 



M I S S O U P- 



< I littd&Irqck 




Fig. 57. 



T^ 



T^W 




Fig. 58. 



SOUTHWESTERN STATES. 



133 




Fig. 59. 



only plants here found are the 
yuccas, whose steins stand like 
stakes over the plain. 

Texas has coal and silver 
mines. Large herds of cattle 
and sheep are reared. What 
cereals are raised? How does 
the state rank in the production 
of cotton and of sugar-cane ? 

The capital of the state is 
Austin. : Dallas and San An- 
tonio are the largest towns. 

Indian Territory. — This ter- 
ritory has been set apart by the 
government as a home for va- 
rious tribes of Indians. Here 
a definite area, called a Reservation, has been given to entire 
tribes or parts of tribes removed from distant parts of the 
country. 

The money due the tribes, or Nations, as they are called, 
from the sale of their land, is held in trust by the United 
States government, and the interest paid annually to the 
treasurer of each nation. 

The five civilized tribes — the Cherokee, 
Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and, Seminole 
Nations — have large reservations. 

Their population numbers about 175,000, 
including the many negroes and white men 
who have become citizens of the nations 
under their local laws. White men who 
Fig. 60. have married Indian women are counted as 

belonging to the tribe, and share in the property. 

The territory does not have the form of government of the 
other territories of the country. Each tribe has its own chief, 




134 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

treasurer, council, etc., and an officer of Indian affairs is 
appointed by the United States government. 

Farming and stock raising are the chief industries. 

The land is held in common, but a citizen may use whatever 
land he can fence in. The most enterprising Indians have 
large farms which they lease to white or black men. The less 
civilized Indians live upon the hills and timbered lands. 

Coal is mined on the reservation of the Choctaw nation, and 
gold and silver are known to exist in the territory. 

The Cherokee Nation has a reservation about as large as the 
state of Massachusetts. Here there is a good government, 
and there are excellent schools. Tahlequah is their chief 
town. 

The Creek Nation has its capital at Okmulgee. On this 
reservation is Muscogee, the chief commercial town ; here is 
located the United States court for the territory. 

The Choctaw Nation has the largest reservation. Many 
thousand white men are engaged in mining coal. 

The Chickasaw Nation has the largest population, but there 
are five times as many white men among them as red. 

The Seminole Nation is the wildest and much the smallest 
of the five nations. 

Oklahoma Territory. — Oklahoma Territory was separated 
from Indian Territory in 1890. Most of the land is prairie, 
and the climate is so equable that products of northern and of 
southern states can be profitably raised. 

Guthrie is the capital. 

61. East Central States. 

(Part II. , p. 00.) 

Name the East Central States. In what region are these states ? 
In what drainage basin is Michigan ? In what two basins are each of 
the other states ? 



EAST CENTRAL STATES. 135 

Name the Great Lakes. What rivers connect these lakes ? Where is 
Green Bay ? Saginaw Bay ? Lake St. Clair ? Name the states sepa- 
rated by the Ohio Kiver. By what sections are the East Central States 
bounded ? 

These states lie east of the Mississippi and north of latitude 
36° 35'. In the northern parts of Wisconsin and Upper Michi- 
gan there are mountains over a thousand feet high ; along the 
Mississippi and Ohio Rivers are bluffs, those in Indiana being 
called knobs ; and the rest of the surface of this section is a 
great level tract of land covered with fertile soil. 

This level land is called prairie, a French word meaning 
meadow, a word which has been used since the time when all 
this region was French territory. The surface is usually roll- 
ing and is free from stones, and where uncultivated is covered 
with long grass. No trees grow upon it except in scattered 
clumps. This soil is adapted to raising the different kinds of 
grain, especially wheat and corn. 

What do you know about the temperature and rainfall of 
this section? 

There are great stores of natural wealth in this section. 
Where are there pine forests ? Where are coal and iron 
found ? Where are there mines of copper ore ? Where are 
there salt wells ? Where is lead found ? 
Zinc? 

The cereals are raised in all these states. 
Which ones raise the most wheat ? The 
most corn ? The most oats ? 

Wisconsin. — The soil of the northern 
part of this state is of sand and clay, and 
is adapted for the pine and hard wood Flg ' 

forests ; the fertile southern part is an agricultural region. 

Besides the wheat, corn, and oats, much barley and rye are 
raised in this state. Many cattle are reared. Leather is 
manufactured. 



Ml CH ' 





en II 

<■ Milwaukfcp ? 

®MADISOi 

z 






136 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



There are many beautiful lakes in this state. Notice the picture on 
p. 00, the Dalles of the St. Croix. Dalles is a name given to the strange 
shapes of earth and rocks left by the action of the river in wearing its 
channel through sandstone rocks. 

The Milwaukee River furnishes water power for large flour 
mills and other factories. 

Milwaukee is a large city, one of the 
chief commercial cities of the country. 
Madison is the capital of the state. 
Michigan. — Michigan consists of an 
upper and a lower peninsula. The upper 
peninsula is- the mineral region, and is 
wild, rocky, and picturesque. 

Fig. 62. 

On the southern shore of Lake Superior are the famous " Pictured 
Rocks," cliffs of different colors worn into strange shapes by the sand and 
wind and water. Near them is the scene of Longfellow's poem, Hiaivatha. 




IOWA 



The southern peninsula is the agricultural region. Michigan 
ranks first among the states in its products of iron ore, copper, 
gypsum, salt from brine wells, lumber, and freshwater fish. 
What proportion of the iron of our country 
comes from Michigan ? What fruit is 
largely raised ? 

Detroit is the largest city. For what is 
Grand Eapids noted ? Lansing is the cap- 
ital. 

Illinois.— Illinois, " The Prairie State," 
is one of the most level and best watered 
states of the Union 
this state are raised more horses and more wheat, corn, and 
oats than in any other state. 

What minerals are found in this state ? What manufactures 
are carried on ? 




Fig. 63. 

It is the third state in population. In 



EAST CENTRAL STATES. 



137 




What have you learned about Chicago ? As late as 1830 
there were only a few shanties and rude huts where now the 
city of Chicago covers a greater area than 
any other city of the world. It is the 
largest pork-packing, grain, lumber, and 
live-stock market in the world. 

Springfield is the capital. 

Indiana. — Indiana is popularly known 
as the " Hoosier State." It is chiefly a farm- 
ing state. What mineral products has it ? Fi £ 64 - 

In the southern part of the state there are limestone caverns ; the best 
known is Wyandotte Cave, nearly as large as Mammoth Cave. 

Indianapolis is the capital and a great railroad center. It 
is supplied with natural gas for heating and lighting, from the 
gas field north of it. Evansville is the second city in size. 

Ohio. — A kind of horse-chestnut tree, smaller than the common tree, 
grows in Ohio and neighboring states. It is called the Ohio bnckeye, and 
this has given to the state the name of " Bnckeye State." 

Many years ago there lived in Ohio a race of people known as the 
Mound Builders ; the mounds and their contents of pottery and orna- 
ments are the only relics of these strange people. There are many thou- 
sand of these mounds in this state and a few in Indiana. 

Ohio is, next to Illinois, the most populous state of this sec- 
tion. It is one of the rich states in the Union, ranking among 
the first in agricultural and dairy products, 
and in manufactures of earthenware and 
brick. What state manufactures more iron 
and steel ? It is also the second state in 
the Union in the value of its stone quar- 
ries. What other mineral products are 
found here ? What fruit is raised in great 
Fig - 65< quantities ? 

Cincinnati and Cleveland are commercial centers and great 
manufacturing cities. Cincinnati is especially noted for its 




138 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



pork-packing establishments. Columbus is the capital. To- 
ledo and Dayton are important cities. 




w 



Mound Builders. Mound at Marietta, Ohio 



Kentucky. — Kentucky is a plateau sloping gradually from 
the mountains on the east to the rivers on the west and north- 
west. 

In the limestone areas are many caverns. Mammoth Cave, near the 
Green River, is the largest cave in the world. Some of its chambers 
have beautiful stalactites, which look like marble icicles hanging from 
the ceiling, and stalagmites, which point upward from the floor. Some- 
times a stalactite and stalagmite join and form a column of beautiful or 
fantastic shape. In other chambers there are streams or pools of water. 

Kentucky is an agricultural and grazing state, for the soil 
is very fertile. In the north central part 
is a large area called the Blue Grass region, 
where the continual decay of the blue lime- 
stone underneath makes the soil exceed- 
ingly rich. 

This state is celebrated for its fine horses. 
It ranks first among the states for the pro- 
duction of tobacco, hemp, and flax. What 
proportion of the tobacco raised in the United States comes 
from Kentucky ? Its coal fields, iron-ore beds, and stone 



OHIO 




Fig. 66. 



WEST CENTRAL STATES. 



139 



quarries are important. One-third of the state is covered with 
forests. 

Louisville is a thriving city and the largest tobacco market 
in the United States. Frankfort is the capital. 



62. West Central States. 

(Part II., p. 00.) 

Name the West Central States. 

In what region are they ? By what sections are they hounded ? 
Name the three eastern states of this section. The four western. What 
two states are separated by the Ked River of the North ? 

What great river flows through this section ? In what direction do 
the tributaries of the Missouri from the west run ? From the east ? 
What does this indicate as to the slope of the land ? What part of this 
section is in the Hudson Bay basin ? To what drainage system do the 
lakes on the northern boundary of Minnesota belong ? 

What is the annual rainfall along the headwaters of the Mississippi ? 
Is there more or less farther west ? Farther east ? Farther south ? Is 
the climate more or less extreme than that of New England? At what 
season of the year is the chief rainfall ? How does the climate compare 
with that of the East Central group ? 

Which of these states produce the most corn ? Oats ? 
Wheat ? Where are the most sheep reared ? Cattle ? 

Minnesota and North Dakota are crossed 
by the timber belt. 

The three eastern states of this section 
are settled and well developed, and the 
natural resources of the western ones are 
being rapidly improved. 

Minnesota. — What three great river sys- 
tems nearly meet in Minnesota? This 
state is famed for its lakes of all sizes, numbering nearly 
10,000 in all. 

More than half the state is timbered, while the rest is prai- 
rie, so that farming and lumbering are the main industries. 




Fig. 67. 



140 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 




Fig. 68. 



Iron is mined in this state. In the western part is the red 
pipestone region, and near the quarries are many Indian camps. 
It was of this red stone that the Indians made their pipes of 
peace. 

Minneapolis is the largest city. For what is it noted ? 
St. Paul, the capital, is located at the head of steam navi- 
gation. What led to the founding of these 
cities ? Where is Duluth ? 

Iowa. — Iowa resembles Illinois and In- 
diana more than it does the other states of 
this section. It is entirely a prairie state. 
What cereals are raised extensively in this 
state ? In what products does it take the 
lead ? 

It Tanks second in the production of flax. What mineral 
is mined ? 

Nearly all the trees of the state have been planted by the 
settlers. There are many large saw mills where logs are sawed 
that have beon rafted from Minnesota. 

Des Moines, the capital and largest city, 
is an important railroad center. 

Missouri. — Missouri- is the most popu- 
lous state west of the Mississippi, and St. 
Louis, its chief city, is the largest in the 
Mississippi valley. What have you already 
learned about this city ? 

The productions of the soil and of the mines of this state 
are of great variety. Besides its coal, iron, building stones, 
useful clays, and lumber, this state yields two-thirds of the 
zinc produced in this country. It is chiefly, however, an 
agricultural state, producing the wheat and corn of the 
northern states, and the cotton, flax, tobacco, and grapes of 
the southern states. The natural transportation facilities of 
this state are unsurpassed. 



\ I O W A /$■ 


to 
< 
tn 
Z 
< 
v 

INL 
T'Y 


*> Hannibal o\^. l L L ' 

1 .^v o X 

+ {/ 

j ARKANSAS <*— /T. 



Fig. 69. 



WEST CENTRAL STATES. 



141 



CANADA 




Fig. 70. 



Kansas City is a large, flourishing city and an important 
railroad center. Jefferson City is the capital. 

North Dakota. — In North Dakota there are still large and 
unbroken prairies. 

The winters are long and severe, and blizzards are fre- 
quent. Prairie breezes render the nights of summer cool 
and comfortable. 

The soil is exceedingly fertile, especially 
in the Red River valley. Here there are 
large wheat farms, one farm often contain- 
ing two or three thousand acres. The 
cattle ranches are also on a large scale. 

In the western part of the state is a 
region called by the Indians the Bad 
Lands, because bad for traveling ; this is a rough, but pictur- 
esque country, whose colored rocks have 
been worn by the action of water into fan- 
tastic shapes. 

The capital of the state is Bismarck. 
South Dakota. — The Bad Lands of South 
Dakota, which extend into Nebraska, is a 
desert region with canyons, walls, and cas- 
tles of white earth. 
In the Black Hills gold, silver, tin, and coal are mined. 
Like North Dakota, the chief industries are 
agriculture and stock raising. 

The state is destitute of trees, and sec- 
tions of land called " tree claims " have 
been given to settlers for a very small 
amount of money upon the condition of 
their planting groves there. Why are trees 
so important ? Pierre is the capital. 

Nebraska. — The eastern part of Nebraska has a rich soil 
which yields large crops of grain and corn. Beets are raised 




I N E B R A S K"A 



Fig. 71 




Fig. 72. 



142 GBAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

in large quantities, and the making of beet sugar is becoming 
an important occupation. 

Omaha is a large city having extensive 




°| KANSAS 




smelting and repairing works. Lincoln is 
the capital. 

Kansas. — Kansas is the central state of 
the Union. In which part of the state is 
the greatest rainfall ? In which part are 
the most settlements ? 

Kansas has the agricultural products of 
Nebraska, and has also considerable mineral wealth. Of what 
does it consist ? 

Kansas City is the largest city, and Topeka is the capital. 

63. Mountain and Plateau States. 

(Part II., p. 00.) 

In what region are these states ? How is this section bounded ? Name 
from north to south the four states in the eastern tier of this section. 
Name the three states lying west of these states. What other state in 
this section ? Describe their surface. 

What river separates Arizona and Idaho in part ? What is the shape 
of Idaho ? 

What part of this section is in the Mississippi basin ? What part 
drains into the Gulf of Mexico ? What, into the Gulf of California ? 
What, into the Pacific Ocean ? What, into interior basins ? 

Is the climate of these interior basins moist or dry ? Do you think the 
same is true of all interior basins ? Why ? 

Where is Great Salt Lake ? 

Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico are crossed 
by the Rocky Mountains and the lower ranges near them, 
called " foot-hills." Idaho, Utah, Nevada, and Arizona are the 
plateau states, crossed also by lower mountain spurs. 

This whole region is elevated, and the level portions are 
several thousand feet above the sea. What is the effect of 



MOUNTAIN AND PLATEAU STATES. 143 

the altitude upon the climate ? The air of this section is very 
dry. When is the rainy season ? 

In this section the rivers run in deep-walled canyons. Many 
of the rivers are dry the greater part of the year ; where rains 
occur they work the decayed portions of the rocky surface 
into the channels, and the mass of sand and sharp bits of 
stone borne along by the swift current is constantly cutting 
the channel deeper. 

The Pacific Highlands consist of several parts : (1) the 
Rocky Mountains; (2) the Great Basin, crossed by several 
short ranges ; (3) the Northern or Columbian Plateau ; (4) the 
Southern or Colorado Plateau; (5) the Sierra Range or the 
Cascade Range ; (6) the Coast Range. Within these high- 
lands are several peaks that reach 15,000 feet, and the gen- 
eral level of the region is at least 6000 feet. This is higher 
than any mountain summit in eastern North America except 
two or three. 

The Northern Pacific Kailroad crosses the mountains at a height of 
6000 feet. The Central Pacific crosses the Sierra Nevada at an elevation 
of 7000 feet, and the height of South Pass through which the Union 
Pacific Railroad runs is 8000 feet. Trace on the map the parts of the 
Pacific Highlands and the roads referred to. 

The Plateau States include the great interior basin of the 
continent. This Great Basin is a triangular region lying 
between the Wahsatch Mountains and the Sierra Nevada. 
What have you learned about its rivers ? There are many 
fertile valleys in the northern part of the Great Basin, but 
the southern part is hot and sterile. 

The soil of these states must be irrigated in order to be 
productive. 

Mining of gold, silver, quicksilver, lead, iron, copper, nickel, 
and other minerals is the chief industry. In which states is 
the most gold mined ? In which, the most silver ? The most 
copper ? The most coal ? Which states raise many sheep ? 



144 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



In these states some of the grandest and most interesting scenery of 
the world is found. The air is so clear that mountains may be seen 
many miles away. In this part of the country you hear of a "Butte," 
a hill not quite high enough to be called a mountain, and of a " Mesa," 
a flat-topped mountain. 

Montana. — Montana is larger than all the New England 
States together with the state of New York. It is the third 

state of the Union in size. Its farming 
lands, made fertile by irrigation, cover more 
territory than the average eastern state ; its 
grazing lands, where great herds of cattle, 
horses, and sheep feed on the bnnch-grass, 
more than the state of Illinois ; its forests, 
more than those of Michigan. One-fifth of 
the area of the state is mountainous. 
Montana ranks second in the production of silver and cop- 
per, fourth in the production of gold, and fifth in that of lead. 

The course of the Missouri in this state is through very picturesque 
scenery. The "Gate of the Kocky Mountains," where the river crosses 
the mountains, is a grand gorge nearly six miles long. A series of rapids 
and cascades, called the Great Falls of the Mis- 
s >uri, makes the limit of navigation from the Gulf 
of Mexico. 




Fig. 74. 



MONTANA 



r~ \ 



eLlowston 

^TIONAL PARI^j. % 

\<l V^ %„■% 
Vaull ^\\ 



ranger 

, HaSTT,, 

~) COLORADO 



Fig. 75. 



Helena is the capital and largest town. 
Butte City is another flourishing mining 
town. 

Wyoming. — There is very little farming 
in this state, and stock raising is the lead- 
ing industry. The mineral wealth is great, but coal is the only 
mineral as yet developed. Cheyenne is the capital. 

Yellowstone Park. — In the northwestern part of the state, 
extending a little into Montana and Idaho, are 4000 square 
miles which form the Yellowstone National Park, and contain 
more natural scenic wonders than any other region. 



MOUNTAIN AND PLATEAU STATES. 145 

Ages ago there was a deep rocky basin on the eastern side 
of the Great Divide of the Rocky Monntains. There the 
earth's crust broke, and melted lava surged up from below, 
filling the basin and running over its sides upon the surround- 
ing country. When this lava flow ceased, its surface cooled, 
leaving a black, solid crust to protect the fiery interior. 
The snows of winter melted into numerous brooks ; some of 
the water penetrated the cracks in the lava crust and became 
underground streams, which soon came in contact with the 
fires beneath. The waters were changed to steam, whose 
explosive force tore up the rocks, till, hard as they were, 
they were crumbled to soft powder. Then came the ice 
age, and the movement of the ice continued the work of 
tearing away the lava blocks and of wearing deep valleys 
across their surface. When the ice melted, the water cut 
great gorges or canyons for its bed, or remained as lakes in 
the old depressions, or reached the fiery rocks beneath to be 
constantly hurled back again as steam and boiling water. 
Grass and flower seeds were brought by winds and birds from 
the valley below ; these took root and grew, and trees, chiefly 
the red fir and mountain pine, sprang up. 

This wonderful region was for a long time known only to 
the buffalo, elk, bear, and porcupine, the beaver and wild 
goose, the eagle and other birds. John Colter, a hunter, was 
the first white man to cross this region, and he reported what 
he had seen; he told about the strange geysers, some of 
which send forth boiling water 250 feet high, which explode 
after longer or shorter intervals, some of them coming from 
high mounds which have been made by the deposits from 
the water, others issuing directly from the level ground; 
about the blue ponds of boiling water, hot enough to boil 
fish; about the springs whose hot water poured over ter- 
races beautifully colored with a fungus growth while all 
the land around was white and desolate; about the basins 

K 



146 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

of bubbling red, white, yellow, and brown mud called " paint 
pots " ; about the sulphur fumes which came from holes in 
the forests; about the beautiful Yellowstone Lake, thirty 
miles long, filled with trout ; and about the clear Yellowstone 
River which a few miles from the lake passes over a fall 
a hundred feet high, and still farther away plunges over a 
cliff 260 feet high (the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone) into 
the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, where it rushes, foam- 
ing, between steep walls of bright red, yellow, gray, and purple 
colored rock cut into fantastic shapes. 

These stories seemed too wonderful to believe. In 1871 
the United States geologist sent out a party for systematic 
exploration, and because of its report Con- 
gress, the following year, set apart this 
whole region as a "public park or pleas- 
uring ground for the benefit and enjoyment 
of the people." 

Colorado. — Colorado is in the center of 
the Eocky Mountain region. One-third of 
the eastern part is desert land. Most 
of the remainder is mountainous and exceedingly rich in min- 
erals. There are also fine farming and grazing land. Where 
the land is irrigated, enormous crops are produced. Because 
of its altitude, pure air, and dry climate, the state is a great 
health resort. 

Within this state are the highest peaks of the Rockies, and 
the natural scenery is grand. 

More than 40 peaks are over 14,000 feet high. Among the mountain 
ranges there are large " parks," which are broad valleys where once were 
the beds of lakes. From the dome of the capitol at Denver one can see 
three of the most noted mountain peaks, — Long's, Gray's, and Pike's 
Peaks. A few hours by rail from Denver brings one to The Garden of 
the Gods and Monument Park, where are tall columns of stone worn by 
water into strange shapes. Near by are Colorado Springs, a noted 



J ..i<<ti«\v' 1| l , '> V "*_^ ^ 

Leadyme o j^rfV^, denver 

i^jeo bitADo 

1 s ' ; -. 

j NEW MEXICO Jkopa 



MOUNTAIN AND PLATEAU STATES. 



147 



health resort, and Manitou, where a railroad ascends to the top of Pike's 
Peak. 

Not far from Colorado Springs are the Cripple Creek gold mines. 

None of the rivers of Colorado are navigable, and many 
flow through wonderful canyons, some of them from two to five 
thousand feet deep. Mineral and thermal 
springs are numerous: 

What have you learned about Denver, 
the capital of the state ? Leadville is a 
famous mining town. 

New Mexico. — New Mexico is a terri- 
tory. Its surface is a lofty tableland 
sloping southward. In the southeast is a 
continuation of the Staked Plain of Texas, waterless and ap- 
parently barren, but capable of yielding crops if irrigated. 

The territory is rich in minerals and precious stones; the 
leading industries are silver, gold, and coal mining, and stock 
raising. 

Santa Fe is the capital and one of the oldest towns in the 
country. 




Fig. 77. 



New Mexico is a part of the land purchased from Mexico ; Mexican 
manners and customs still prevail, and Spanish is the common language. 

The Indians of New Mexico live in villages 
called pueblos (the Spanish name for village). In 
a pueblo the adobe houses are built close together, 
and even on top of one another to a height of five 
or six stories. The entrance to a house is through 
a hole in the roof ; there are no stairways, but 
ladders lean against the outer walls and from the 
hole in the roof to the floor. The Zuiii pueblo is 
Fig. 78. one of the best known (p. 00). 

Idaho. — Idaho has a sandy soil, which can be made pro- 
ductive only by irrigation. The southeastern part is a vol- 
canic region where streams suddenly disappear and become 





148 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

subterranean. Here are " sinks/ 7 or places where the roofs 
of caves have broken through. 

There are numerous waterfalls in the state. The Snake 
River, after a succession of cascades, makes one grand plunge 
of over 200 feet. This is called the Great Shoshone Fall, and 
is one of the grandest in the world. 
Boise City is the capital. 

Utah. — Utah is crossed by a range of mountains called the 
Wahsatch. East of this range there are mountain spurs, and 

the soil is hard and clayey; west of the 
range there are many valleys. West of 
Great Salt Lake there is an alkaline desert. 
Much of the soil is alkaline, and so little 
rain falls that the people have been forced 
to construct an extensive system of reser- 
voirs, canals, and ditches to irrigate the 
land. Agriculture is an industry more im- 
portant in this state than mining. 

Long ago the great basin at whose bottom lies the Great Salt Lake, 
was filled by a freshwater lake as large as Lake Michigan, and having 
an outlet through Red Rock Pass into Marsh Creek and to the Shoshone 
and the Columbia rivers. This lake has received the name of Lake 
Bonneville. Its surface w T as at one time about 1000 feet higher than 
Salt Lake now is. It cut down its outlet nearly 400 feet, but the rain- 
fall that supplied its waters became too scant, and it ceased to have an 
outflow. Since that time it has gradually dried away until all that 
remains of it is Great Salt Lake, Utah Lake, and some smaller lakes. 

Great Salt Lake is still drying away. It is now shallow, 
and will become smaller if it does not entirely disappear. 
Its water is very salt and buoyant. Can you tell what has 
made it salt ? Many thousand tons of salt are taken from 
it annually. 

Twelve miles from the Lake is Salt Lake City, the capital 
of the state. This is the great city of the Mormons, or " Lat- 



MOUNTAIN AND PLATEAU STATES. 



149 



ter Day Saints/' as they call themselves, whose chief settle- 
ments are in Utah. 



Around Temple Square are the Mormon buildings 
fine granite structure, and the Tabernacle, an oval 
building with a roof or dome that is the largest in 
the country. 

Nevada. — Nevada is in the Great Basin. 
A large part of it is a desert. It ranks fifth 
in the production of gold and silver. 

Carson City is the capital. 



the Temple, a 




Fig. 80, 

Arizona. — The 

plateau of this ter- 
ritory has many 
mountain ranges 
whose peaks are 
very high. 

The Colorado 
River and its tribu- 
taries which drain 
the territory all 
have cut for their 
beds deep canyons. 
What have you 

• Sks/t " I j B ;_. 

Effect of Irrigation on Arizona Desert. 

learned about the Grand Canyon of the 
Colorado ? Phoenix is the capital. 

In the recesses of the cliffs of the Colorado River 
and of its eastern tributaries there are remains of 
strange dwellings once occupied by the "cliff dwell- 
ers." Sometimes in a small niche half-way down 
the perpendicular face of a canyon there is a single house ; and again 
in larger recesses there is a village of many rooms. The stone which 
forms the walls are set in mortar made from the adobe clay (pp. 00, 00) . 





Fig. 81 



150 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

64. Pacific States. 

(Part II., p. 000.) 

In what region of the United States are these states ? Is the climate 
extreme or equable ? In what season does most rain fall ? Is there 
more rain at the north or the south ? In what direction are the pre- 
vailing winds ? Which part has a very dry climate ? Which part a 
very moist climate ? What effect on vegetation do these extremes have ? 
What country of Asia is directly west of the Pacific states ? 
What have you learned about the forests of this section ? What 
have you learned about two kinds of trees peculiar to California ? 

What is the effect of the Japan current and the westerly winds upon 
the climate of the Pacific States ? 

Name the Pacific States. What great river in this section ? What 
states does it separate in part ? Where does this river rise ? What 

great tributary from the south ? 

How many states are there bordering the Pa- 
cific Ocean ? How many border the Atlantic ? 

Washington. — One hundred years after the 
discovery of America, Juan de Puca discovered 
this northwestern region for the Spaniards. Two 
hundred years later still, an American captain 
sailed into and explored the great river, to which 
he gave the name of his vessel, Columbia. On 
account of his voyage, the United States claimed, by right of discovery, 
all the land drained by the river; the British also claimed this region 
because of Vancouver's exploration made several years later. These 
rival claims were part of the Northwest Boundary dispute that was set- 
tled in the middle of this century. 

The Cascade Mountains divide the state into two parts. 
Monnt Eanier is the highest of the range. Eastern Washing- 
ton consists of rolling plains and valleys originally covered 
with sage-bush and bunch-grass. By means of irrigation, 
this land has been made exceedingly productive. The bunch- 
grass plains are fine grazing regions. The rivers of this sec- 
tion abound in falls and rapids, and this water power will 




PACIFIC STATES. 



151 




soon be used for manufacturing purposes, as it already is at 
Spokane Falls. (00 : 00.) The largest lake of the northwest 
is Lake Chelan, seventy miles long. 

Western Washington has fertile alluvial soil along the 
rivers and in the reclaimed marshes of Puget Sound. 

Puget Sound has some of the finest harbors in the world. 
Two of Washington's counties consist en- 
tirely of the islands in this Sound. 

Olympia is the capital of the state. 
Seattle and Tacoma are the largest towns. 

Oregon. — What three ranges of moun- 
tains cross Oregon ? Mount Hood is the 
highest peak of the state. 

° L Fig. 82. 

Among the Cascades is Crater Lake, the deepest freshwater lake in 
America. It fills the crater of an extinct volcano and is surrounded by 
bluffs 2000 feet high. 

The mountains are well covered with timber, and some of 
the valleys are exceedingly fertile. The fisheries and can- 
neries, especially of salmon, are very important. 

Portland is the largest city. It is the 
western terminus of the Northern Pacific 
Railway and has a regular steamship line 
to Sitka, Alaska. 
Salem is the capital. 

California. — The northern boundary of 
California is in the latitude of Cape Cod, 
and its southern boundary in that of 
Charleston, South Carolina. For its size compared with some 
of the eastern states, see the map on next page. 

Why has California a mild and even climate ? The climate 
of the region near the coast from San Jose to Los Angeles is 
delightful; it is marred in summer only by the dust which, 
for perhaps weeks at a time, is not laid by a single shower. 




Fig. 83. 



152 



GBAMMAB SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



California is crossed by two mountain ranges, and between 
their chains and spurs lie the valleys, most of them remark- 
ably fertile, but a few of them 
barren. The California Valley 
is 400 miles long and from forty 
to seventy miles in width. 

The most remarkable of all the 
valleys is the Yosemite. This lies a 
mile below the level of the surround- 
ing country, and is six miles long and 
from one-half of a mile to a mile 
wide. A river winds in beautiful 
curves through the valley, huge gran- 
,ite rocks project into it, and wonder- 
ful falls, comparatively narrow, but 
the highest in the world, leap from 
cliff to cliff. The Yosemite Fall (00, 
00) is the most beautiful of the falls. 
Mirror Lake (00) is aptly named. 




Fig. 84. 



In the southeastern part of California is Death Valley, so named be- 
cause a party of immigrants perished there from thirst and starvation in 
1849. It was once a lake, and is 400 feet below sea level. This valley is 
said to be the hottest 
spot on earth in sum- 
mer. On the eastern 
side are rich borax 
deposits. 

C a 1 if o r n i a is 
noted for its rich 
mines of precious 
metals, its fine 
fruits, and wines. 
What part of the 
gold of our country comes from this state ? It sends to all 
parts of the United States large quantities of wine, grapes, 
oranges, lemons, peaches, apricots, pears, and plums. 




iltfU 






Alfalfa Harvest, California. 



PACIFIC STATES. 



153 



Most of the early settlements in California were made by 
Franciscan monks, and their most northern "mission" they 
named San Francisco, after the founder of their order, Saint 
Francis. 

San Francisco is connected with the ocean by a strait called 
the Golden Horn. Steamships ply between San Francisco 
and the Hawaiian Islands, Australia, Asiatic ports, and the 
cities on the western coast of the American continent. 

Several thousand Chinese inhabit the Chinese Quarter, where they 
have their own stores, theaters, and houses of worship. 
What have you learned about San Francisco ? 

Los Angeles and Oakland are the second cities in popula- 
tion. Sacramento is the capital* 

Alaska. — Alaska is nearly one-sixth as large as the United 
States. It in- 



cludes a large 
mass on the main- 
land, having a 
coast line greater 
than that of the 
Atlantic sea- 
board, and many islands in Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska. 
From what country was this territory purchased ? 

The Coast Eange of Xorth America extends into Alaska 
and onward into the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands, 
which stretch toward Asia for a thousand miles. Magnificent 
glaciers are found among the mountains. 

In this range is Mount St. Elias, an extinct volcano. It is the second 
highest peak in North America, the Orizaba Peak in Mexico being 
slightly higher. 

The principal river of Alaska is the Yukon. Six hundred 
miles from the coast it is over a mile wide. It is navigable 
for steamboats for 1500 miles from its mouth. It is 2000 




A Placer Mining 1 own. 



154 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 




Alaskan Chief. 



miles long, and empties into Bering Sea through a vast delta. 

Its drainage basin is the second in size on the continent. 

The Yukon Basin, except 
near the coast, has extensive 
forests, and the region about 
Sitka, the capital of the terri- 
tory, has dense forests con- 
taining tree trunks especially 
adapted for masts and spars. 

There are other large rivers 
in Alaska which are still little 
known. 

The great Japan current is 
borne to the Alaskan shores. 

The prevailing winds in summer are from the south and are 

warm and moist. As they blow upon the mountains they 

become cooled and envelop the land in mists and clouds, which 

give a heavy rainfall in south- 
ern Alaska. 

The northern and interior 

portions are very cold. In the 

northern part of Alaska there 

are several weeks in winter 

when the sun does not rise, 

and several in summer when 

it does not set. Point Barrow 

is the northernmost point. 
The inhabitants of Alaska 

are engaged in hunting the 

fur-bearing animals and in 

fishing. Salmon is the chief 

fish caught and exported. 

Alaska's population consists of Eskimos, Indians, and the 

Aleuts of the Islands, a more gentle and industrious people 




An Eskimo Child. 



BEVIEW QUESTIONS. 155 

than the Eskimos, whom they somewhat resemble. There are 
also a few half-breeds and white people. 

A strange sight in this territory are the "totem poles" of the Indians 
with their strange carvings. These poles serve the same purpose as 
coats-of-arms among the people of Europe. 

Efl REVIEW QUESTIONS UPON THE UNITED STATES. 

Which of the cultivated plants of the United States are natives of 
America ? Which have been imported ? 

The United States has three coasts ; which is the longest, and which 
the shortest ? Does the larger part of the United States, exclusive of 
Alaska, lie east or west of the Mississippi River? Dividing the United 
States by the Mississippi River, which side is of greater importance ? 
Will it always remain so ? Give reasons for both answers. If the 
United States were cut up into states the size of your own, how many 
would there be ? Which states have no seacoast ? Which border the 
Atlantic ? Which border the Gulf of Mexico ? Which border the 
Pacific ? Which border the Great Lakes ? Which border Mexico ? 
Name from west to east the states which border Canada. 

What states are crossed by the meridian of Washington ? Name five 
state capitals east of the Mississippi that are in about the latitude of 
Philadelphia. 

What states lie partly in the Atlantic basin, and party in the basin of 
the St. Lawrence ? What states are wholly in the St. Lawrence basin ? 
What states are partly in the St. Lawrence basin and partly in the Mis- 
sissippi basin ? 

Why are the winters milder at Puget Sound than around Lake Supe- 
rior ? Which state has the warmest climate ? Is there more snow in 
Portland, Maine, or Portland, Oregon ? 

Name five bays on the Atlantic coast. Is the Mississippi longer than 
when discovered by De Soto ? Over what waters may a vessel go from 
Providence to Nashville ? Name ten states that have rivers of the same 
name as the state. 

Which carries more water to the sea, the Mississippi or the St. Law- 
rence ? On which side of the Mississippi are its largest tributaries ? 
Why ? Name the river valleys that cut through the Appalachian Moun- 
tains. Which of the Great Lakes are called upper and which lower ? 
Why are there salt lakes west of the Rocky Mountains ? 



156 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

Which are the five leading manufacturing states ? The five leading 
mining states ? In what staple articles is the United States ahead of all 
other couutries ? Name a state noted for each of the following exports : 
coal, salt, granite, lumber, fruit, vegetables, dairy products, cotton, boots 
and shoes, clothing. What countries take our surplus grain ? meat ? 

Of all the great cities of the Mississippi valley, which has the greatest 
natural advantages for manufacturing and which for commerce ? What 
point on the lakes has most advantages for manufacturing iron ? Are 
our rivers relatively as important as formerly for commercial purposes ? 
Why ? North of the Ohio the principal cities on the banks of the Missis- 
sippi are on the right bank. Is this true south of it ? Can you give a 
reason for this in the commerce of the bordering country ? Compare 
New York and San Francisco as to means of access to the interior. 

Mention the six most important seaports of the United States. 

Through what places would you pass in a pleasure trip from New York 
to San Francisco ? Why would you want to stop at places you mention 
in this route ? 

Where in the United States do the farmers meet with difficulty on 
account of too little rain ? Where do they have trouble from the worn- 
out character of the land ? Where from swamps ? Where from river 
overflows ? Where from alkali m the soil ? Where from mountains 
and rocks ? Where from stones in and on the land ? Where are 
there the most market gardens ? Where is the hay crop of most value? 
Cattle are raised mainly for beef and for dairy products. In what parts 
of the United States is dairying an important industry ? Dairying, 
except to furnish milk for cities, is not carried on where the population 
is very dense nor where it is very scarce. How do you account for this ? 

Where are the small farms ? Where are the large farms ? What 
are raised on the small farms ? What on the large farms ? 

Where is cotton grown ? Corn ? Wheat ? Oats ? Grapes ? Pota- 
toes ? Tobacco ? 

For references see page 167. 



POLAR REGIONS. 




Fig. 85. 



The Arctic Ocean is surrounded by an almost continuous 
belt of islands and continents. This belt is broken by three 
waterways connecting the Arctic Ocean Avith the Atlantic and 
Pacific Oceans ; the narrowest of these is Bering Strait, be- 
tween Asia and North America; the 
second is Davis Strait, between North 
America and Greenland ; the largest is the 
open sea between Greenland and Norway. 

Northeast of the continent of North 
America are Baffin Land and Greenland. 
North of Europe lie two lands, Nova 
Zembla and the archipelago of Spitzber- 
gen, while north of Asia the islands are few and small. 

Many countries, Kamchatka, Alaska, Labrador, South Green- 
land, situated as far south as sixty degrees or even fifty de- 
grees, have a climate and productions of an Arctic character, 
while the coast of Norway has a much milder temperature. 

The treeless wastes called The Barrens in America, and 
tundras in Siberia and European Russia, have many features 
in common : they both slope to the northern shores, both are 
scantily wooded and covered with grass. Marshes and 
shallow lakes abound. The low northern shores are the 
home of sluggish streams and numberless inlets from the 
frozen seas. 

These plains on both continents are thinly populated. They 
are solitary and silent in summer, but in wiuter the drifting 

157 



158 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



snow and howling tempest sweep over the untrodden and 
monotonous wastes. 

They are larger in extent than the whole of Europe. A 
belt of forest fifteen to twenty degrees in width encircles them. 




Fig. 86 a. 



65. Greenland. 

Greenland was discovered by the Northmen in the tenth century, but 
abandoned by them in the fourteenth century and forgotten. It was re- 
discovered by Davis and occupied by the Danes. 

Greenland and Iceland belong to Denmark. 

Of Greenland only a small portion of the land at the 



GREENLAND. 



159 



southern extremity and a narrow strip along the eastern and 
western shores are visible ; the rest is covered by an ice field, 
tolerably smooth and level except at the edges. How far did 
this ice cap once extend ? 

The chief settlements are on the western coast. The most 
important one is Godhavn. 

Trade of Greenland. — Every colony on the coast of Green- 
land is regularly visited by two or three ships which bring 
provisions for the few Danish in- 
habitants and various kinds of 
goods for the natives. These ves- 
sels arrive in July and leave in 
August. There exists at this 
season a brisk trade between the 
principal ports and the trade 
centers in their vicinity. The 
smaller places send in their stores 
of sealskin and seal blubber by 
small sailing vessels. The blub- 
ber is melted down by the col- 
onists into oil, and this with skins 
forms the chief return cargo of 
the Danish vessels. 

The European importations are 
then distributed to the remoter 
inhabited regions. This work continues until September, 
when the increasing cold and storms suspend all trade until 
January. Then the winter ice sheet is so firm and wide 
in extent that traffic by the use of dog sledges becomes prac- 
ticable. 

The inhabitants of Greenland, Labrador, Northern America, 
and Northeastern Asia are the Eskimo. No uncivilized race 
ranges over a wider space. What did you learn in the Intro- 
ductory Geography about the Eskimos and their homes. 




Eskimo Woman. 



160 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPY. 

66. Antarctic Regions. 

In the Northern Hemisphere the land almost surrounds the 
Arctic Ocean ; in the Southern Hemisphere the ocean com- 
pletely surrounds the land. 

All we now know about the South Polar region is that 
there are dense pack-ice and great vertical glacial walls which 
seem to bound the continental area, for here and there traces 
of land have been seen beneath the ice, and occasionally a 
mountain or volcanic peak. It is a land of desolation. No 
land animal, no trace of vegetation, not even a lichen or a 
piece of seaweed, has been seen here. Fossils have been 
found, however, which show that a more genial climate once 
existed in these regions. Even in midsummer no signs of life 
exist, and the summer here is quite different from the summer 
in Arctic regions. 

Two groups of land are known. One, south of Australia, is 
called Victoria Land. On this there are two huge volcanoes ; 
one, called the Terror, is extinct, but the other, Erebus, lights 
up with its red smoke the polar night. 

South of America there is another Antarctic land. 
• 

REFERENCES. 

H art wig : The Polar World. 

Greely : Three Years of Arctic Service. — 

Hayes : The Open Polar Sea. 

Peary. 

Chautauquan, December, 1895 : Iceland and Its People. 

Cosmopolitan, August, 1893 : Icebergs. 

Geographical Journal, April, 1894: Across Iceland. 

McClure, July, 1893 : Arctic Exploration. 

Cosmopolitan, April, 1895 : Aurora Borealis. 



DOMINION OF CANADA. 



Extent. — With the exception of the peninsula of Alaska on 
the northwest, the northern part of North America, from 
the United States to the Arctic Ocean, belongs to Great 
Britain. This British possession is but a little smaller than 
all Europe. The distance across the continent along the Gulf 
and Eiver of St. Lawrence and Great Lakes, over the prairie 
land and Rocky Mountains, and on to the Pacific, is three 
thousand miles. 

Name. — When Cartier discovered the St. Lawrence River in 1535, he 
heard the Indians call the villages Kannatha; thinking this their name 
for the entire country, he adopted the name of Canada. 

Government. — The Dominion of Canada is divided into 
seven provinces. The island of Newfoundland is a British 
colony independent of Canada. 

Each province has its own parliament and lieutenant- 
governor, but sends its representatives to the general par- 
liament at the capital, Ottawa. The executive power is in 
the hands of a governor-general appointed by the Queen 
of England. 

Rivers and Lakes. —What have you learned about the rivers 
of British America ? The Bed Biver of the North rises in the 
low hills that on their southern slopes bear the headwaters 
of the Mississippi. 

What have you learned about the connection between these 
streams ? 

l 161 



162 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



Once there existed a great lake in the valley of the Red 
River of the North. Into this lake the sediment of the trib- 
utary rivers was poured, making the lake bottom level and 
covering it with a soil fertile in its elements. This lake was 
larger than all the great lakes of America combined, and its 
old beaches can be traced for hundreds of miles. This valley 
is now one of the largest and most fertile former lake bottoms 
of the world, and is a fine region for wheat. Lakes Manitoba, 
Winnepeg, and Winnipegosis occupy what once were deep 

places in this 
great lake. To 
this ancient lake 
has been given 
the name of Lake 
Agassiz, in honor 
of Alexander 
Agassiz, a distin- 
guished natural- 
ist of the United 
States. 

Hudson's Bay 
is a vast shallow 
sea in the north- 
ern plain. In this great plain are the mighty Mackenzie and 
the " swift-flowing" Saskatchawan. 

Products. — When Canada was first settled by Europeans a 
great part of it was covered by unbroken forests. Much of 
the land has, of course, since been cleared, but the forests of 
pine, maple, oak, and birch are still the great wealth of the 
country. The cutting of timber occupies many thousand men. 
In the short summer the farmer raises fine crops of wheat, 
oats, barley, and vast crops as far north as the Peace River 
country in latitude 60°. 

Wheat is successfully grown at Fort Simpson, latitude 62°, 




Cutting Lumber. 



PROVINCES OF CANADA. 163 

longitude 122° west. Fort Simpson is farther from St. Paul 
than St. Paul is from New Orleans. This shows the great 
breadth of the wheat-growing belt in North America. Barley 
and potatoes are grown at Port Good Hope on the Arctic 
Circle. 

The mineral resources are very great. Coal fields exist, but 
they have as yet been worked only near seaports and along 
the Canadian Pacific Railroad. Gold, silver, copper, and iron 
abound. 

Extensive fisheries are carried on along the coasts, and in 
the great lakes and rivers. 

Railroads. — The Canadian Pacific Railway crosses the Do- 
minion from ocean to ocean. This gigantic enterprise has 
united Canada commercially as well as politically. 

The Grand Trunk Railway connects Montreal with Chicago and Port- 
land, Maine. Another line connects the Canadian Pacific with Minne- 
apolis. There are 12,000 miles of railroad in the Dominion. 

Canals. — Many canals have been built to avoid the rapids 
in rivers. What have you learned about the canals built around 
the rapids of the St. Lawrence ? 

Population. — The population of the Dominion is about five 
millions, one-third of whom are French, and the others mostly 
of British origin. There are nearly 120,000 Indians and half- 
breeds in the forests of the northwest. 

67. Provinces of Canada. 

Maritime Provinces. — New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince 
Edward Island, and the independent colony of Newfoundland, 
form the maritime provinces of British America. 

New Brunswick lies between Maine and the Gulf of St. Law- 
rence. Forests and fisheries form the wealth of this province. 
St. John, on the river St. John, is the largest town. Seventy 



164 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 




miles up the river is situated the capital of the province, 
Fredericton. 

The peninsula of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton form an- 
other province. Why is its 
climate milder than in the 
inland provinces ? 

Its fisheries rank next to 

those of Newfoundland in 

value. It has also rich coal 

mines. Fine harbors are 

found along its coasts, and 

Halifax, its capital, has a 

secure harbor large enough 

to contain all the navies of 

the world. 

Prince Edward Island is separated from New Brunswick and 

Nova Scotia by Northumberland Strait. Farming and fishing 

are the chief occupations on this island. Charlotte Town is 

the capital. 

Newfoundland has bold and rocky coasts, deeply indented 
by bays. The interior is barren. Summer on this island is 
very short and hot. Fogs are frequent. The long winter is 
of great severity. Polar bears, foxes, beavers, wolves, and 
wild reindeer are found here. In the spring many seals are 
brought down from the Arctic Ocean on fields of floating ice 
and are killed for their fur. The wealth of the island con- 
sists in its fisheries. What have you learned about the Banks 
of Newfoundland ? 



Fig. 87. 



Every nation owns the sea off its own coast for three miles, and beyond 
that is the "high sea," the common property of all nations. The great 
fishing banks are beyond the three-mile limit, and fishermen of any 
nation have the right to fish on them ; but they may not cure their fish 
on the near Newfoundland or Canadian shores, nor go ashore there to 
buy bait except by treaty permission of these governments. 



PROVINCES OF CANADA. 165 

The capital of Newfoundland is St. Johns. 

The coast of the mainland north of Newfoundland, known 
as Labrador, is under the government of Newfoundland. It 
is one of the most desolate regions of the world, inhabited 
chiefly by Eskimos. There are many fishing stations here in 
summer. 

Quebec. — The two most important provinces of Canada are 
Quebec and Ontario, formerly called Lower and Upper Canada. 
These are separated by the Ottawa River. 

The province of Quebec lies on both sides of the St. Law- 
rence River. The river valley is very fertile, but the climate 
of the northeastern part is so severe as to render the land 
nearly useless for cultivation. About three-fourths of the 
population are French. 

Quebec, the capital of the province, is a foreign-looking city. 
Its walls and fortifications, narrow, steep streets, and curious 
old French houses are very interesting. It is the most strongly 
fortified place in the New World. 

Thousands of logs are floated down the St. Lawrence to Quebec, fast- 
ened together in huge rafts. On these rafts the lumbermen live during 
the journey. They build huts on them with hearths of earth for cooking. 
Thus the rafts are floating villages. When they reach Quebec they are 
taken apart, and the logs are sent to saw-mills. 

Montreal is the largest and most important commercial city 
in British America. It is built on an island in the St. Law- 
rence, and its fine stone docks are visited by ships from all 
parts of the world. About how far is it from the ocean ? 

The St. Lawrence River is here two miles wide, and it is spanned by 
a famous railway bridge, a great iron tube resting on twenty-four piers, 
the longest tubular bridge in the world (p. ) . 

Where is the Saguenay River ? This river is noted for its scenery. 
It flows through a rift in the rocks over 100 miles long, and the perpen- 
dicular cliffs on either side are between one and two thousand feet high. 



166 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

Ontario. — Westward from the Ottawa River, north of the 
St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes, is Ontario, the richest and 
most popnlons province of the Dominion. 

The northern part is thickly covered with forests, bnt the 
southern is one of the most productive grain regions of the world. 

Toronto is the capital and largest city. 

Manitoba. — Manitoba, called the " Prairie Province," has 
grown very rapidly in population, for its soil is exceedingly 
fertile, producing large crops of wheat and affording excellent 
pastures for sheep and cattle. 

The capital is Winnipeg, which is rapidly becoming the 
center of trade for the great wheat fields of western Canada. 

British Columbia. —British Columbia lies between the Rocky 
Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, and includes the adjacent 
islands of the Pacific. The mountains of this province are 
covered with forests of pine and fir trees ; valuable gold fields 
exist along the Fraser River, and on Vancouver Island are coal 
fields. 

The capital, Victoria, is built upon a fine harbor on Van- 
couver Island. 

The Northwest Territory. — In 1670 the Hudson Bay Com- 
pany was formed, and given a charter by the king of England, 
which entitled it to three million square miles of land in North 
America and the sole right to trade with the Indian tribes. 
For two hundred years this company owned all this land, but 
in 1869 sold it to the Dominion of Canada : this land is now 
known as the Northwest Territory. 

The Hudson Bay Company still exists and has more than 
a hundred " forts " or trading stations scattered over the land. 
To these stations Indians and trappers bring the skins of 
beavers, otters, foxes, wolves, reindeer, moose, and other wild 
animals to exchange them for guns, powder, clothing, etc. 
The furs are then sent to the Columbia River, or to Montreal, 
or to Fort York, and then on to England. 



PROVINCES OF CANADA. 167 



REVIEW QUESTIONS. 

How much of North America belongs to Great Britain ? Of what two 
colonies does it consist ? 

The Dominion of Canada has how many provinces ? 

Compare the government of Canada with that of the United States. 

[Describe the great plains of northern Canada. 

What have you learned about Mackenzie River ? Nelson River ? St. 
Lawrence River ? Red River ? Frazer River ? Tell about Lake Agas- 
siz. How far north is wheat raised ? 

Where is the Canadian forest belt ? 

What is said of the Canadian Pacific Railroad ? Of the Grand Trunk ? 

Why is Montreal a more thriving town than Quebec ? 

In what countries of Europe do the fishermen of Newfoundland find 
a market for their fish ? 

Where is the Welland Canal, and what is its commercial importance ? 

Why is the most populous part of Canada next to the United States ? 

REFERENCES. 

King : The White Hills. 

Bird : Life in the Rocky Mountains. 

Roosevelt : The Winning of the West. 

Gilbert : Lake Bonneville. 

Whitney : The United States. 

Harper's Monthly, April, May, and June, 1893. 

Harper's Monthly, March, April, 1895. 

Century, May, 1895 : Arid America. 

Cosmopolitan, August, 1894 : Alaska. 

Scribner's Magazine, March, 1894 : Florida. 

Geographical Journal, January, 1894 : Cliff Dwellers. 

Outing, July, 1893 : Canyon of Colorado. 

New England Magazine, January, 1895 : Alaska. 

New England Magazine, July, 1893 : New England. 

Lippincott, January, 1894. 

Parkin : The Great Dominion. 

Whitney : Our Snow Shoes to the Barren Grounds. 



MEXICO. 




Fig. 88. 



Extent and Relief. South of the United States lies Mexico, 

equal in area to about one-quarter of the United States with- 
out Alaska. What two peninsulas belong 
The main part of Mexico is a lofty 
to Mexico ? 

plateau 4000 to 8000 feet above sea level. 
The northern part is a continuation south- 
ward of the desert region of Arizona and 

New Mexico. It is traversed by mountain ranges, and descends 

in terraces to the lower land along the coasts. 

Yucatan has low lands along the coast, swampy and un- 

healthful; behind them plains, dry and barren; and in the 

interior, fertile and healthful highlands with dense forests. 

Scattered throughout these forests are the ruins of large cities 

and of great edifices that once 

were palaces and temples of rare 

beauty. 

The Tropic of Cancer crosses 

Mexico near the center. The 

low, hot, and moist coast lands, 

called the hot lands have tropical 

products, — cotton, indigo, sugar- lgr ' ' 

cane, bananas, and other fruits. In summer the decay of the 

rank vegetation gives rise to malaria and sometimes to yellow 

168 




EXTENT AND RELIEF. 169 

fever, the scourge of this part of the country. Up the moun- 
tain slopes at an elevation of from 3000 to 6000 feet is the 
temperate region, where a genial climate, magnificent scenery, 
and semi-tropical vegetation unite to form the " Paradise 
of Mexico." Here the cereals are cultivated. The higher 
altitudes receive the name of cold lands, but except on the 
snow-clad summits of the mountain peaks the climate is mild. 
The greater part of this land is valuable only for pasture. 

Diagonally across southern Mexico extends a band of vol- 
canic peaks. Popocatepetl is the highest peak. 

Products. — Among the exports of Mexico are dyewoods, 
valuable cabinet woods, fibers, vanilla, coffee, tobacco. The 
chief product of the soil is corn, the common food of the 
people. 

The great wealth of Mexico, however, consists in minerals. 
There are important coal, iron, petroleum, and marble areas, 
but they have been little developed. Gold and silver mines 
have long been worked, and more silver is now produced than 
in any other country except our own. 

Population. — Mexico has a population of about twelve mil- 
lion. The people of the ruling race are chiefly Spanish, but 
they number less than a fourth of the population, the rest be- 
ing Indians and people of mixed white and Indian blood. 

The Aztecs. — Soon after the West Indies had been discovered and 
colonized, a Spaniard named Cortez made an expedition to the mainland. 

There in Mexico he found a race of people very different from the 
native West Indians. This people, called the Aztecs, had come to 
Mexico from the north in about the twelfth century. There they had 
found the Toltecs, who were far advanced in civilization, were good 
farmers, metal-workers, road-makers, and builders of great cities and im- 
mense temples. Some of the ruins of these temples remain even to this 
day. 

The Aztecs built grand cities and magnificent pyramids. So powerful 
were they that it was only after many bloody battles that the Spaniards 
conquered them. 



170 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



The tools and weapons of the Aztecs were of bronze, or stone, or of hard 
lava. They offered human sacrifices. (See the sacrificial stone, p. 000.) 

Government. — Mexico remained a Spanish colony till 1821, 
when it gained its independence. It is now a republic consist- 
ing of a union of many states with a government much like 
that of the United States. Its official title is the United 

States of Mexico. 

. y Spanish is the 

*- "^ $ language of the 

country. 

Cities. — The 
capital city, Mex- 
ico, was once the 
capital of the 
Aztecs. It is 




Mjjjjp • > ^ w aBSI*Sf ""'" 



Castle of Chapultepec, Mexico. 



built on a lofty 
open valley 
within sight of 
the snow-covered 

peak of Popocatepetl. How high is it above sea level ? 

(See p. 000.) 

The most important railway system of the country is the Mexican 
Central, which runs south from El Paso del Norte to the capital and to 
Veracruz. 

The only ports on the Gulf coast are Veracruz and Tampico. 
The chief port on the Pacific is Acapulco. 



REFERENCES. 

Ballou: Due South. 

Chisholm : Handbook of Commercial Geography. 

Harper's Monthly, December, 1893. 

Scribner's Magazine, May, 1894. 

Popular Science Monthly, Jane, 1894. 

Chautauquan, April, 1894 ; October, November, 1895. 



CENTRAL AMERICA 



Position and Extent. Central America lies between Mexico 
and South America, reaching at its northern extremity nearly 
to the isthmus of Tehuantepec, and at its southern nearly to 
the Isthmus of Panama. The Isthmus of Tehuantepec is a 
part of Mexico and the Isthmus of Panama a part of the 
United States of Colombia in South America. The length of 
Central America is about 800 miles, and its greatest breadth 
300 miles. 

Compared with Mexico.— Its relief is lower, and climate 
hotter than that of Mexico. Its products and people re- 
semble those of Mexico. 

Volcanoes. — Volcanoes are more numerous and more violent 
than in any other part of the world, except in the East Indies. 
Earthquakes are very frequent. 

Forests. — The eastern slope is covered with dense forests 
containing many valuable woods, the chief being mahogany. 

People. — The eastern region is mostly occupied by Indian 
tribes, while the open Pacific coast has been settled by Euro- 
peans and their descendants. 

History. — Columbus discovered the coast of Honduras on his fourth 
voyage (1502). The country has been the scene of frequent and terrible 
wars among rival Spaniards for its possession. For a time it was ruled 
as a colony of Spain, then the five states revolted and formed a federal 
union, but in 1833 the union was dissolved. 

171 



172 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

Divisions. — Central America consists of five independent 
republics and one British colony. 

Frequent political revolutions still occur, and the state governments 
are far from being stable. 

Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, the most 
nourishing state, extend across the country from the Pacific 
Ocean to the Caribbean Sea. Salvador, the smallest state, 
lies along the Pacific coast and occupies a belt of land natu- 
rally belonging to Honduras. The British colony of Belize, 
or British Honduras, is south of the peninsula of Yucatan. 

In Nicaragua is a large lake of the same name, whose waters are dis- 
charged into the Caribbean Sea by the San Juan River. This river is 
navigable, except where interrupted by rapids, and it is proposed to pass 
these rapids by means of canals and locks, and to build a ship canal 
through one of the low passes from the lake to the Pacific. What will 
be the advantage of this Nicaragua Canal ? 

70. The West Indies. 

These islands may be divided into three groups: the Ba- 
hamas, flat, coral islands ; the Greater Antilles, large islands 
more or less mountainous; and the Lesser Antilles, a series 
of volcanic mountain tops. 

At the time of their discovery by the Spaniards, the islands now 
called the Lesser Antilles were the home of a fierce race of Indians 
who called themselves "Oarib," which in their language meant "brave 
men." It is from them that the Caribbean Sea gets its name. 

Climate. — The West India Islands lie within the Torrid 
Zone. What influences moderate their climate ? During the 
rainy season, which lasts from May to October, yellow fever 
is prevalent on the coasts and furious hurricanes are frequent. 

Products. — Sugar, rum, and molasses, tobacco and cotton, 
coffee, cacao, and spices, dyes and hardwoods, and tropical 
fruits are products of these islands. 



THE WEST INDIES. 



173 



People. — Within a short period after the discovery of the 
islands, the native Indians were nearly exterminated. To-day 
the larger part of the inhabitants are free negroes, the de- 
scendants of slaves imported from Africa. Next in numbers 
are Europeans and their descendants. There are also large 
numbers of mulattoes, people of mixed white and negro blood, 
and coolies, laborers transported from the East Indies, China, 
or Japan. 

The Bahamas. — Several hundred islands form the Baha- 
mas, but only a few are inhabited. They belong to Great 
Britain. Sponges are obtained from the surrounding seas. 
Nassau, on one of these islands, is becoming a winter resort. 

The Greater Antilles. — The Greater Antilles include the 
large islands of Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Eico, and Jamaica. 

Cuba, the largest and most important of the West India 
Islands, is the richest colony of Spain. It has wonderful nat- 
ural resources, al- 
though its area is 
less than that of 
the state of New 
York. There are 
dense timber for- 
ests here.' The 
tobacco of Cuba is 
famous, and more 
sugar is raised on 
this island than in 
any other country. 
Habana, its capi- 
tal, on a fine harbor, is the only large town of the West Indies. 

Puerto Eico is also a Spanish colony. 

Haiti, between Cuba and Puerto Eico, is divided into two 
republics, — the negro republic of Haiti on the west, and 
Santo Domingo on the east. 




Indian Statue on the Prado, Cuba. 



174 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 




Mountain ranges running in the direction of the greatest 
length of the island occupy the greater part of its area. Coffee 

is the chief product. 
Jamaica belongs 
to Great Britain. 

The Lesser Antil- 
les. — Most of the 
Lesser Antilles he- 
long to Great Brit- 
ain and France. The 
Netherlands, Den- 
mark, and Spainhave 

Native Farm House, Cuba. sma l] possessions. 

Trinidad Asphalt. — One of the wonders of the West Indies 
is the island of Trinidad, with its lake of asphalt. It is owned 
by the British government. 

The laborers ara all negroes, for no one else can endure the heat and 
malaria of the region. The lake is hard at the edges and soft in the 
middle. The asphalt crust is broken up with picks and crowbars, and 
loaded on dump-carts, which are drawn down a long sandy road to the 
wharf, where the load is dumped and carried by wheelbarrows on board 
the lighters. From these the pickings are hoisted on board ship in 
baskets, and thrown into the hold, where it settles down into a solid 
mass. When the vessel reaches its destination, the asphalt must be 
broken up again with the pick before it can be unloaded. 



71. Bermuda Islands. 

Out in the Atlantic Ocean, about 600 miles east of South 
Carolina, are the Bermuda Islands, possessions of Great Brit- 
ain. They include nearly 200 islands, only fifteen or twenty 
of which are inhabited. Early vegetables, especially potatoes, 
tomatoes, and onions, are here raised for the New York and 
Halifax markets. Bermuda is a noted winter resort. 



SOUTH AMERICA 



Position and Extent. — How South. America compares in size 
with the United States may be seen 
from the following figure. 



What is the longitude of the most eastern 
point of the United States ? Trace this me- 
ridian southward and tell what lands it 
crosses. What is the longitude of the most 
western point of South America? Trace 
this meridian northward and tell what lands 
and bodies of water it crosses. Is the me- 
ridian of Cape St. Rogue more nearly that 
of London or of Washington ? What part 
of South America is crossed by the equator ? 

Trace the equator eastward and tell what 
it crosses. Does it touch any part of Asia ? 




Fig. 90. 

Trace the Tropic of Capri- 
corn around the world 
and tell what it cros- 
ses. Does it cross as 
many important re- 
gions as the Tropic 
of Cancer crosses ? 
Name the bodies of 
water surrounding 
South America. 



South America 
has four-fifths of 
its area within the 
tropics. What part belongs to the south temperate zone ? 

175 




Home in the Tropics. 



176 GRAMMAB SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

Relief. — What great range of mountains lies in the western 
part of South America ? Where are the other highlands ? 
Where is the great plain of South America ? 

In South America the great plains are called selvas when 
tree-bearing. The plains of the La Plata basin are much like 
our prairies, and are called pampas, from a Spanish word, 
meaning "fields." The llanos are the plains of the Orinoco. 
They are treeless, and covered with grass in the wet season, 
but are almost deserts in the dry season. 

Volcanoes and Earthquakes. — Among the Andes are several 
groups of volcanoes, which form the eastern part of the circle 
of fire of the Pacific Ocean. 

Earthquakes are very common in South America, especially 
on the western slope of the Andes. 

Rivers and Lakes. — The chief means of communication 
across the continent are by the great navigable waterways. 

There is only one basin, though it has three different names. 
The immense plain of the Orinoco valley, of the Amazon 
valley, and of the La Plata valley, extends without inter- 
ruption across the continent from north to south. 

In the northwest, the Magdalena is a large river navigable 
in places, but at its mouth a dangerous barrier prevents the 
entrance of vessels. 

The Orinoco is a long river, and enters the Caribbean Sea 
by several mouths. 

The northern mountains of Brazil partly separate the basins 
of the Orinoco and of the Amazon. 

The Amazon River drains the largest basin, and carries the 
most water, of any of the rivers in the world. It is navigable 
for large steamers nearly to the base of the Andes, and with 
its many tributaries furnishes about 50,000 miles of navigable 
waterways. It is also easily navigated by sailing vessels, for 
the prevailing winds blow up the river, and the current helps 
the boats when they are going down stream. During the rainy 



CLIMATE. 177 

season the dense forests through which it flows are flooded by 
the river. 

Into one of its tributaries, the Eio Negro, the Cassiquiari, 
an affluent of the Orinoco flows, thus connecting the two 
river systems. 

In the southeast, the Rio de la Plata, formed by the Para- 
guay, the Parana, and the Uruguary, flows into the Atlantic by 
a large estuary. 

The three great river systems of the Orinoco, of the Amazon, and of 
the La Plata ramify 
and connect with each 
other ; together they 
form the largest navi- 
gable network of 
waters on the globe. 

The most remark- 
able lake is Lake 
Titicaca, on the high 
plateau of Bolivia, 
12,500 feet above 
the sea. It is about a third as large as Lake Erie, and is 
the highest large lake in the world. 



72. Climate and Products. 

What part of South America has a tropical climate ? What 
part a subtropical ? What part a warm temperate ? 

What part has an annual rainfall of more than 75 inches ? 
Is South America, on the whole, a land of large rainfall ? 
What exceptions are there ? 

The seasons are the wet and the dry. North of the equa- 
tor, the rainy season is from April to October ; south of the 
equator, it is from October to April. Why do the rainy sea- 
sons come at these times ? In the valley of the Amazon, 




On Lake Titicaca, South America- 



178 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



which lies nearly under the equator, the greatest rainfallis 
in January, and the least is in July. 

A strip of country lying west of the Andes, including parts 
of Peru and Chile, is a rainless region. Here the prevailing 
winds are from the east. 

The portion of South America lying in the temperate zone 
has a climate like that of the same zone in North America ; 
but milder, because influenced .by the nearness of the oceans. 
Products. — South America is very rich in minerals, — gold 

and silver, copper, mercury, plati- 
num, lead, and iron. Gold and silver 
have been extensively mined for sev- 
eral centuries. Brazil has large dia- 
mond fields, and other precious stones 
are found there. 
Peru, Bolivia, and 
especially Chile, 
export a great 
quantity of cop- 
per. 

Guano, a valua- 
ble fertilizer, is ob- 
t a i n e d on the 
small islands off 
the coast of Peru. 
The tropical 
products of coffee, 
cacao, vanilla, sugar-cane, are furnished by the northern 
countries and Brazil. In the high valleys of the tropical re- 
gions of Chile, the cereals of the tropical zones, as well as 
wheat and corn, are cultivated with success, and the vine 
nourishes. The potato is there in its native home. 

In the selvas of the basin of the Amazon the trees are very 
valuable. Besides the banana, which furnishes food for the 




On a Coffee Plantation. 



INHABITANTS. 



179 



natives, there are found several varieties of cedar, gigantic 
beech trees, ebony trees, and india rubber trees. 



73. Inhabitants. 

People. — What have you learned about the early discovery of South 
America ? The Spaniards found, in the northwestern part, a highly civi- 
lized race of Indians, much like those of Mexico and Central America. 
The chief tribe was that of the Incas of Peru, whose capital was at Cuzco. 
They were conquered by the Spanish commander Pizarro, who founded 
the city of Lima and made that his capital. It remained the Spanish 
capital for nearly three hundred years. The wonderful ruins of the 
cities of the Incas remain, and the descendants of this people still inhabit 
that region. The tribe of the Incas differed much from the savage Indian 
tribes in the other parts of the country. 

Of the total population of thirty millions in South America 
there are only three millions native Indians. These Indians 
are found in the forests and on the plains of the wild interior 
regions. 

The ruling people are descend- 
ants of the Spanish and Portuguese 
colonists. 

Negro slaves were brought from 
w^est Africa for many years, but 
now they have all been freed. 
Chinese were also imported in large 
numbers for work in the mines. 

Since the beginning of this cen- 
tury many Germans, French, and 
Italians have emigrated to South 
America. 

Language and Religion. — Among 
the ruling class, Spanish is the common language in most of 
the countries. The Portuguese language is spoken in Brazil. 
These languages are so much alike, however, that the Spaniard 




Fig. 91 



180 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



and Portuguese can understand each other without much 
difficulty. 

What is the prevailing religion in South America? (See 
map, p. 00.) 

Countries. 

For many years Spain and Portugal ruled the South Ameri- 
can countries as colonies, but one by one these colonies gained 
their independence. Now South America consists of three 
small European colonies and ten republics. The republics are 
divided into states, and governed much like the United States. 

On the north are the republics of Colombia and Venezuela 
and the three European colonies of British Guiana, Dutch 
Guiana, and French Guiana. 

In the central region of the Andes are Ecuador, Peru, and 
Bolivia. In the center is Brazil. On the south are Chile, 
Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay. 



74. Colombia. 

Position. — The republic of Colombia is named for Columbus 
It occupies the northwestern corner of South America and 

the Isthmus of Panama. 

Relief. — Three great ranges of the north- 
ern Andes cross Colombia from north to 
south. Between the western and central 
range lies the valley of the Cauca, the 
largest tributary of the river Magdalena, 
whose valley lies between the central and 
eastern range. The eastern part of the 
country consists of grass plains where cat- 
tle are raised. 
Products. — The minerals of Colombia are little mined. The 
finest emeralds in the world are found here. 




Fig. 92. 



VENEZUELA. 



181 



Less than a tenth of the land is cultivated. The exports 
are tobacco, quinine, coffee, cotton, hides, and india rubber. 

Cities. — The capi- ,-%=£-.. 

tal of the republic is 
Bogota. 

The foreign trade 
of Colombia is car- 
ried on by two cities 
on the Isthmus, — 
Panama on the Pa- 
cific, and Colon or 
Aspinwall on the 
Atlantic, fifty miles 
apart. These cities 
are connected by a railroad which transfers goods and pas- 
sengers from the ships on one side of the Isthmus to those 
on the other. 




View near Bogota. 



75. Venezuela. 

Relief. — Between the mountain ranges in the northwest 
and southeast lies the fertile valley of the Orinoco River. 
This river is navigable throughout Vene- 
zuela, and its largest western branch can 
be ascended to within sixty miles of 
Bogota. 

Lake Ma^acaybo is the largest lake 
in South America. A narrow channel 
connects it with the Gulf of Venezuela. 
What did the early Spanish explorers 
find here ? 

Products The coast range is densely wooded, and in its 

hollows are sugar and cacao plantations. The greater part of 
the country consists of extensive llanos, where cattle, horses, 
and sheep are raised, the real wealth of Venezuela. 




Fig. 93. 



182. 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



Tropical products are exported. Copper and gold are mined^ 

Commerce Five lines of steamers connect Venezuela and 

the ports of Europe. 

Capital. — The capital is Caracas. 




ig. 94. 



76. Guiana. ; 

Relief Guiana occupies the northeastern corner of South 

America. Its coasts are low and marshy, but inland are forest- 
covered hills and river valleys. 

Products. — Large quantities of sugar, 
rum, and molasses, and forest timber are 
exported. Gold has recently been dis- 
covered. 

Divisions Into what colonies is Gui- 
ana divided ? The foreign powers claim 
the country from the coast to the mountains, but they occupy 
only the land near the coast. Most of the inhabitants are 
free descendants of African slaves, and Indian and Chinese 
coolies. 

British Guiana. — British Guiana is the most prosperous of 
the three colonies. Its capital is Georgetown. 

Dutch Guiana Dutch Guiana has for its capital the town 

of Paramaribo. Orange trees line its broad, straight streets. 

French Guiana French Guiana has been used as a penal 

settlement for France and its colonies. Cayenne, its capital, 
has given its name to the red pepper which grows there. 



77. Ecuador. 

Position and Relief. — The Eepublic of Ecuador lies directly 
under the equator, hence its name. It is one of the least im- 
portant of the South American states. 

The Andes mountain system has several of its highest peaks 
in this country. 



PERU, 



BOLIVIA, 



183 



Products. — The important products of Ecuador are cacao, 
or cocoa, and quinine bark. 

Cities. — Quito is the capital of Ecua- 
dor, built on a table-land nearly 10,000 
feet above the sea, and from its great 
square one can see the grand, snow- 
clad peaks of the Andes. 

Guayaquil is the chief seaport. 




1 Scale; 1000 miles to inch 70 



Fig. 95. 



78. Peru. 

Position and Relief. — The Eepublic of Peru is the largest 
state of South America that borders the Pacific Ocean. It has 
a low belt extending for 1400 miles along the coast. The high 
plains of the Andes, reached only by 
dangerous mule paths, are cold and bleak. 
The inward slope of the Andes leads to 
the woodlands of the basin of the Amazon. 

Products. — There is great mineral 
wealth in Peru, especially of silver, quick- 
silver, and copper. 

The llama, or alpaca, furnishes valua- 
ble wool for export, milk and flesh for 
food, and serves besides as a beast of 
burden. The wild llamas roam over the Andes in large herds. 

Cities. — Lima is the capital. It is situated in the rainless 
belt, and it has often been devasted by earthquakes. Callao, 
its seaport, is on the best harbor of Peru. 




Fig. 96. 



79. Bolivia. 

Bolivia. — Bolivia is named for General Bolivar, called 
" The Liberator," under whom Spanish South America gained 
its independence. His memory is honored in his country as 
that of General Washington is in ours. 



184 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



Relief and Products. — Bolivia is an inland state having in 
its western part a high plateau and mountain ranges, and in its 

eastern part land sloping downward to the 
basins of the Amazon and La Plata. Its 
relief (except that it lacks the sandy coast 
line), its mineral wealth, and its herds 
of llamas, are similar to those of Pern. 
The lowlands near Brazil yield the tropi- 
cal products of that country. 

Cities. — Sucre is the capital. 

La Paz, southeast of Lake Titicaca, is 
the largest city and chief trading center. 




raw + 

wiF ot0Si v 



pale.' 100O miks to inch 



3 



Fig. 97. 



80, Brazil. 

Position and Size. — Nearly one-half of the area and of the 
population of South America is found in Brazil. It has nearly 
as much coast line as the United States, and its inland boun- 
daries touch those of 
every other state on 
the continent except 
Chile. Its area is 
nearly equal to that of 
the United States, but 
its population is less 
than one-fifth as large. 
Relief. — Along the 
Amazon River in the 
north of Brazil are 
broad, low, moist 
plains, while in the 
Fig. 98. southeastern part are 

highlands traversed by 
ridges of mountains and hills, and interspersed with grass plains. 




CHILE. 185 

The vegetation of Brazil, owing to heat and moisture, is 
so luxuriant as to be a hindrance to the development of the 
country. It is with great difficulty that roads are made or 
kept passable after having been made. 

Products. — Brazil supplies more than half of all the coffee 
used in the world. Cotton, sugar, cacao, tobacco, are the 
other chief products, while the forests produce valuable tim- 
ber, dyewoods, and gums : nut and fruit trees of all kinds 
abound. What special kind of nuts do we get from Brazil ? 
Cattle, horses, and mules are raised on the grass plains. 

Brazil is also rich in minerals, gold, quicksilver, copper, 
iron, and salt, while no other region has greater quantities of 
precious stones, as diamonds, rubies, emeralds, topazes, beryls, 
and garnets. 

Government. — Brazil was a dependency of Portugal till 1822, an 
independent empire till 1889, and since then a federal republic modeled 
after the United States. 

Cities. — The capital of Brazil, Bio Janeiro, is the largest 
city of South America. It is on a magnificent bay of the 
Atlantic, surrounded by an amphitheater of mountains in the 
midst of the rich vegetation. Its harbor is one of the best 
in the world. An extensive commerce with other countries 
is carried on. 

Bahia, the oldest city of Brazil, and Pernambuco are im- 
portant seaports. What must their exports be ? 



81. Chile. 

Position and Relief. — Chile is the best governed of the South 
American republics. It is a long, narrow belt of land about 
100 miles wide, extending for 2800 miles along the Pacific 
coast. Here is the loftiest summit of the Andes, that of 
Aconcagua. Earthquakes frequently occur. 



186 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



Products. — The northern third of Chile is a hot, rainless 
desert, valuable for the niter and guano grounds, and the 
silver, copper, gold and saltpeter mines. 

The central third has a tem- 
perate climate and moderate 
rainfall, where wheat, corn, 
and European fruits are raised 
in abundance, while the pasture 
lands support enormous herds 
of cattle and horses. 

The southern third of this 
long strip of territory is chiefly 
a waste of rocks beneath snow- 
capped mountains edged with 
glaciers. The rain here is 
almost perpetual, and the 
lower mountain slopes have 
dense evergreen forests. 
What does this teach you as to 
Flg * "• . the winds of the Pacific along 

this coast ? On a few islands at the extreme south and on a 
strip of land along the north shore of the Straits of Magellan, 
sheep and cattle can be raised. 

Cities. — Santiago, the capital, is a fine city near the center, 
and in the midst of the magnificent scenery of the Andes. A 
railroad connects it with Valparaiso, the chief seaport. 

Railroads. — Chile has made great progress in railway 
construction. 

Railroads extend along the coast for 300 miles south of 
Santiago, and short lines extend into the Andes from most of 
its important ports. An important road connects the Atlantic 
and Pacific Oceans, joining the ports of Valparaiso and 
Buenos Ayres. 

Islands. — The islands of Juan Fernandez and Easter belong 
to Chile. 




ARGENTINA. 



187 



82. Argentina. 

Position. — Argentina, the second largest state of South. 
America, occupies the southern part of the country exclusive 
of Chile. Its area is about one-third as large as that of the 
United States. This country has developed very rapidly of 
late, and will probably surpass in commercial importance all 
the other countries of South America. 

Size. — The immense length of Chile and Argentina may be 
understood from the following diagram. It will be seen that 
Argentina in latitude 
has an extent almost 
equal to that from the 
southern point of Flor- 
ida to the northern part 
of Labrador. 

Relief. — In the west 
are spurs of the Andes, 
but nearly all the rest 
of the country is a vast 
level plain. This plain 
in the north is partly 
covered with forests, 
but elsewhere there are 
pampas where horses, 
cattle, and sheep are 
raised. 

Products. — Horns, 
hides, and salted beef 




Fig. 100. 



are the chief exports of the country. (This is one of the few 
countries where horses run wild.) 

Patagonia, — The southern part of Argentina, from the Rio 
Negro to the Strait of Magellan, is known as Patagonia. This 
land about the Strait and part of the land south of it, called 



188 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



Tierra del Fuego, belongs to Chile, but the eastern part of 
Tierra del Fuego forms part of Argentina. This part of South 
America is little known. 

Cities. — Buenos Ay res, the capital, situated on the Rio de 
la Plata, is also the chief seaport. 

La Plata, a recently built town not far from Buenos Ayres, 
is growing rapidly. 

The second town is Cordova, near the center of the state. 

Railroads. — The Argentine system of railways is important, 
both in the development of the country and in furnishing a 
route across the continent from Buenos Ayres to Valparaiso. 
Thirty years ago Argentina was a pastoral country exporting 
only wool, hides, and tallow, but its fine system of railroads 
have now enabled it to compete with the great agricultural and 
manufacturing countries. 



83. Paraguay. 

Position and Relief. — Paraguay is an inland republic, and 
except on the north its limits are marked by rivers. 

Ranges from the tableland of Brazil on 
the north extend southward through Para- 
guay. On the western slope are wide 
grassy plains, the home of the more civ- 
ilized inhabitants. The eastern slope is 
covered with unexplored forests, the home 
of the Indians. Where the Parana and 
Paraguay rivers approach each other, at the southwestern 
angle of the republic, there are great marshes. 

Continued wars and revolutions have exhausted the country. 
Products. — Besides the fine timbers of the forests, oranges 
and a kind of tea called mate, made from the dried leaves of 
holly, are exported. 

Capital. — The only large town is the capital, Asuncion. 




Fig. 101. 



URUGUAY. — FALKLAND ISLANDS. 



189 



Scale; 1000 miles to inch 
30 



84. Uruguay. 

Uruguay lies east of the Uruguay River and south of 
Brazil. Its surface, climate, population, and 
industries are similar to those of Argentina, 
and like that country, also, it is being rap- 
idly developed. It exports meat extract and 
canned provisions. 

Montevideo is the busy capital, and the 
commercial rival of Buenos Ay res. 




Fig. 102. 



85. Falkland Islands. 

The Falkland Islands lie out in the Atlantic eastward from 
the Strait of Magellan. They are treeless and desolate, but 
cattle, horses, and sheep thrive on the tall grass. Fish and 
seals abound on the coasts. 

Stanly Harbor is the residence of the British governor who 
rules the islands. 

What other South American islands are there ? 



REVIEW QUESTIONS. 

What countries of South America does the equator cross ? What part 
of South America is directly south of Washington ? 

Compare South America with North America as to size, coast line, 
lakes, cities, climate, agriculture. 

Describe the plains characteristic of each of the three main river val- 
leys of South America. Why is it that most of the animals of the selvas 
are climbers ? 

What influences have the Andes Mountains upon the climate of South 
America ? What is the climate of Argentina ? Of Uruguay ? Of Peru ? 
Of Chile ? 

Compare the Amazon and the Mississippi. Compare the estuary of 
the Amazon and the estuary of the La Plata. 

By what European nations was South America colonized ? What 
part is now subject to these nations ? 



190 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

Name some of the important minerals found in South America. In 
what country are diamonds found ? What countries export copper ? 

What are the chief products of that part having a tropical climate ? 
What plants are grown in the high valleys of northern Chile ? 

Ought one to say that South America is well fitted for agriculture ? 
How do you account for the fact that the exports of South America are 
only natural products ? What are the principal centers of production 
of cotton, sugar-cane, coffee, in South America? What are the chief 
products of Argentina ? 

What country of South America is likely to become an important rival 
of the United States in wheat-growing and cattle-raising ? Is the valley 
of the Amazon a good place in which to raise horses ? Why ? Is it a 
good place for sheep ? 

What are the resources of the cities in the central region of the 
Andes ? Why are there more large cities in North America than in 
South America ? What are the chief ports of South America ? Why 
are Montevideo and Buenos Ayres important cities ? Give an account 
of a journey from Valparaiso to Pernambuco. 

REFERENCES. 

Squier : Peru. 

Brown : The Amazon and Its Tributaries. 

Page : La Plata. The Argentine Confederation. 

Hield : Glimpses of South America. 

Stanford : Compendium of Geography and Travel. 

Curtis : Venezuela. 

Chisholm : Handbook of Commercial Geography. 

Chautauquan, January, February, 1894. 

Engineering Magazine, October, 1894. 



EUROPE. 






Europe and Asia are so closely connected and haye so much 
in common that it is often necessary to speak of them together, 
and Eurasia is a convenient name for this one land mass. 
You can easily see how this word is made. The word 
Afeurasia will be used in referring to the connected land 
mass of Africa, Europe, and Asia. 

Size. — Compare Europe and the United States as to size. 

Europe is the smallest of the continents except Australia, 
but the most important. In propor- 
tion to its area it has a larger pop- 
ulation than any other continent. It 
contains about one-fifth of all the in- 
habitants of the world, and a large 
portion of those most advanced in civ- 
ilization. The inhabitants of Europe 
with their descendants in America 
and Australia are the most vigorous, enterprising, and intelli- 
gent portion of the dwellers on the earth. 

In .what hemisphere is Europe ? In what latitude ? In what zone 
chiefly ? What are the parallels which bound it ? The meridians which 
bound it ? 




Fig. 103. 



Its area is 3,800,000 square miles, a little larger than the 
United States. It is about half as large as North or South 
America, one-third as large as Africa, and one-fifth as large as 
Asia. 

191 



192 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

Relief — The relief of Europe exhibits a central mountain 
system with a plain sloping northward from it, and three pen- 
insulas extending southward. 

The Alps with the connected mountains form the central 
framework of Europe. Their length is more than 700 miles. 

To the Alps are connected on the west the Cevennes of 
France and the Pyrenees between France and Spain. On the 
south the Apennines extend through Italy. On the east the 
Carpathians surround Hungary and connect with the Balkan 
Mountains, which, through the highlands of Asia Minor, con- 
nect with the central mountain system of Asia. It must be 
noticed that there are important breaks between the ranges 
mentioned. What are some of these breaks ? A detached 
mountain system extends along the Scandinavian peninsula. 
Between Europe and Asia on the south are the Caucasus, and 
on the east the Ural. 

Between the Alps and the Scandinavian mountain systems 
lies a plain occupying two-thirds of the area of Europe. 

Historical Note. — The Alps have had a remarkable influence upon the 
history of Europe. The hordes from Asia by whom we suppose Europe 
was first settled, came by way of Asia Minor, and having passed the Bos- 
phorus were turned northward by the Alps over the plains of Germany. 
Those who would enter the country south of the Alps could do so only 
by sea, a route by which only those could come who were sufficiently 
advanced in civilization to build ships and to know the art of navigation. 
These were the most civilized of their race and so brought a higher civili- 
zation to Europe than was brought by the great hordes entering by the 
northern route. Thus Europe north of the Alps and Europe south of 
the Alps have from the earliest days of which we have record been 
occupied by people differing greatly. The earlier civilization of south- 
ern Europe has at length been surpassed by that of the steadier and more 
slowly developing people of the north. 

Rivers and Lakes. The largest European river, the Volga, 
flows into the Caspian Sea. With its many branches it is a great 
highway of trade for the grain-producing lowlands of Europe. 



BIVEES AND LAKES. 193 

Into the Black Sea flow four navigable rivers, the Don, the 
Dnieper, the Dniester, and the Danube. The Danube has sixty- 
navigable tributaries, and it carries immense quantities of grain 
to the East. 

From the Alps four great rivers flow. The Danube, the 
second European river in size, the Po, flowing through a very 
fertile plain, the Ehine, the most beautiful of Europern rivers, 
and the Rhone, the most rapid and wild, roll in different direc- 
tions from this central mass. 

The Ehine has a swift current and many falls ; those of Shaffhausen 
are the finest in Europe. Its banks are lined with vineyards, gardens, 
fields, villages, castles, and picturesque ruins, each with its legend, and all 
with their charm. 

The Rhone rises near the sources of the Rhine, and like that 
river, is glacier-fed. Until it reaches Lake Geneva, it is a 
foaming, dashing mountain stream. Here it deposits the mud 
that it brings from the mountain and its waters issue clear 
from the lake. In the last 800 years it has filled a mile and 
a half of the upperend of the lake. 

The Valdai Hills, though only about 1500 feet high, are the 
center from which many rivers flow. Name four of these 
rivers. Where is the Vistula ? The Oder ? The Elbe ? The 
Seine ? Find two rivers of the Mediterranean system. 

The lakes of Europe may be found in two groups : one 
around the Baltic Sea, the other in and south of the Alps. 

Climate. — The climate of Europe is more mild, equable, and 
healthful than that of any other of the grand divisions. No 
portion of Europe except central Russia is more than 400 
miles from the sea. What effect does this have upon the 
climate? Study the slopes of Europe and decide how they 
affect the climate. Is any portion of Europe very moist ? Is 
any very dry ? The rivers of Europe are much less affected 
by freshets than those of North America. Why ? 



194 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

Are the rivers of northern Italy subject to freshets ? 

The rainfall on Italy and the southern Alps occurs mostly 
in the winter months, and hence, in the winter and spring the 
rivers bear along great floods of water, bnt become compara- 
tively small in summer. 

This makes irrigation a necessity. Cattle raising cannot be 
well carried on where the population is dense and the rainfall 
small. Hence, for dairy products, Italy depends on Switzerland. 

North of the Central Highlands the influence of the Atlantic 
is so great that the cold increases eastward more rapidly than 
it does northward, and ports on the Black Sea are closed with 
ice in winter while those in Norway are open. 

Products. — What have, you learned about the climate and 
soil near the Arctic Ocean ? What is the food of the people 
there ? Below this barren belt is the zone where barley and 
oats grow, pine trees flourish, cattle and sheep are reared. 
Farther south, besides the rye and the wheat, grapes, apples, 
pears, and peaches are cultivated and deciduous trees abound. 
Still farther south evergreen trees grow, and in the southern 
zone palms, figs, and grapes, as well as corn and wheat are 
found with the orange and olive trees. 

The chief exports of Great Britain, France, Germany, 
Switzerland, Belgium, and The Netherlands are manufactured 
goods, while the exports of the other countries are chiefly the 
products of the soil, forest, or sea. 

Extensive mines of iron, lead, copper, coal, and salt are 
found in various parts of the continent. Mineral springs 
abound. 

87- People- 
Races. — Most Europeans belong to the Aryan or white race. Of the 
Mongolian or yellow race are the Lapps, Finns, and Samoyeds of the 
north and northeast. Other non- Aryan peoples are the Turanian tribes 
in the east of Russia, the Hungarians and Turks, the Basques of the 
Pyrenees, and the Jews and gypsies scattered throughout Europe. 



PEOPLE. 195 

Religion. — There are twice as many Catholics in Europe as 
there are members of the various Protestant churches or of the 
Greek church. About seven millions are Jews, and there are 
the same number, nearly, of Mohammedans, chiefly found 
among the Turks. 

Government. — There are four republics in Europe : France, 
Switzerland, and the two very small states, San Marino in 
Italy, and Andorra in the Pyrenees. The other states are 
monarchies. All of these are limited monarchies except two. 
Which are they ? 

The Early Mediterranean World. — - A map of the world in 1400 con_ 
tained only one continent. Europe, most of Asia, and the northern part 
of Africa were represented, and the place of the remainder of the conti- 
nent was filled with strange figures of dragons and other monsters. Eor 
2000 years before the discovery of America, the Mediterranean was the 
center of the known world, and Italy, through Eome, ruled that w T orld. 
Before the time of the Romans the Mediterranean world had been ruled 
successively by Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, and Greeks. 

The earliest civilizations of which we have positive records are those 
which arose in the Nile valley and in the valley of the Tigris and 
Euphrates. 

The Phoenicians, whose country was but a narrow strip along the 
Mediterranean coast opposite Cyprus, and who were successively subject 
to the ruling powers, nevertheless greatly influenced the European world, 
for they were a colonizing and a trading nation. They founded Carthage 
on the northern coast of Africa as early as the ninth century b.c, and 
many other colonies on the coasts of Morocco and of Fez. They sailed 
through the Strait of Gibraltar (which they called the Pillars of Hercules) 
and founded Cadiz (Gades) on the Atlantic coast of Spain. They 
reached Great Britain in their adventurous journeys, and traded with 
the natives for their tin. In the east they established their colonieson 
the Arabian and Persian Gulfs, and carried on an extensive trade with 
India, Ceylon, and the coasts of Africa. 

To the Phoenicians we are indebted for our alphabet. The Egyptians 
had a hieroglyphic alphabet of several hundred characters, but there was 
no fixed character which represented always the same sound. The Baby- 
lonians and Assyrians had characters which represented syllables rather 



196 GBAMMAB SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

than sounds. The Phoenicians were the first people to determine the 
elementary sounds of their language and to give to each sound a fixed 
character. From the Phoenician alphabet the Greek was derived, from 
the Greek the Roman, from the Roman the modern alphabets. 



REVIEW QUESTIONS. 

What is meant by Eurasia ? By Afeurasia ? 

Compare Europe with the other continents as to size and general form. 

Make an outline map of North America. Mark out upon it in proper 
latitude the outline of the British Isles. 

Could the continent of Europe hold the Mississippi River System ? 

What part of Europe is in west longitude ? What mountain chains 
are crossed by the parallel of 60° north ? What is the chief mountain 
system ? What mountains are extensions of this system on the west ? 
On the south ? On the east ? What part of Europe is a great plain ? 

Name three peninsulas on the west of Europe. 

Make from memory a simple outline map of the Mediterranean Sea. 
What seas are connected to the Mediterranean Sea ? Name three islands 
of the Mediterranean Sea. Name five straits of Europe and tell what 
waters they connect. 

If the Black and Caspian seas were connected by a canal, which way 
would the water flow ? Compare the North Sea and the Baltic. 

Name a river entering the Caspian Sea. Four rivers entering the 
Black Sea. Four rivers rising in the Alps. Name four rivers rising in 
the Valdai Hills. Two rivers entering the Baltic Sea. Two rivers enter- 
ing the North Sea. Two entering the Mediterranean. 

Does it take longer to go from Europe to America or from America 
to Europe ? Why ? 

Is Europe warmer or cooler than Asia in the same latitude? Than 
North America in the same latitude ? Describe the climate of central 
Europe. Of southern Europe. For what climatic reasons is Italy a 
poor country for cattle raising? For what climatic reasons are Ger- 
many and the Netherlands well adapted to raising cattle ? 

What other parts of the world are settled by Europeans ? 



THE COUNTRIES OF EUROPE. 



The "five great powers" of Europe 
are Great Britain, Germany, France, Aus- 
tria, and Eussia. These nations have 
for a long time controlled affairs of 
continental importance. 

How some of these countries com- 




Fig. 104. 



pare with the United States in size may be seen from this 
figure. 



88. The British Isles. 

What sea and channel separate the British Isles from the 

continent of Europe ? 



The British Isles contain 
four countries, three of 
which — England, Wales, 
and Scotland — form the 
island of Great Britain. 
The fourth country is the 
island of Ireland. These 
two islands, with many 
smaller islands, form the 
United Kingdom of Great 
Britain and Ireland, having 
an area three times that of 
Virginia. 




Fig. 105. 



197 



198 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



89. England. 

Relief. — The highlands of England with their wild moor- 
lands are in the west, while the broad plains and fertile vales 
are in the east and south. The Cheviot Hills form part of 
the boundary between England and Scotland. 

The Cumberland Mountain region contains the chief lakes of England 
with their beautiful scenery, and it is therefore called "The Lake Re- 
gion." Here Wordsworth, South ey, 
and Coleridge spent so much of their 
time that they are called " the Lake 
Poets." 

Rivers. — The largest and 
most important river in Eng- 
land is the Thames. The tide 
extends for seventy miles up 
the river. 

The Thames is two hundred miles 
long, and on its way to the sea it 
passes Windsor, with the Queen's 
beautiful castle, Eton with its 
famous school, Hampton Court 
Palace, Richmond with its royal 
park, Kew with its fine gardens, 

London with its crowded port, Greenwich with its observatory, Woolwich 

with its royal arsenal, and then on into the North Sea. 

The Tyne, in the north of England, flows through a great 
coal and iron region, and its ports are crowded with vessels 
laden with coal, and bound for far-distant lands. Newcastle 
is one of these ports. 

The Mersey is a short river flowing into the Irish Sea ; it 
flows through a very populous district, which carries on an 
immense trade. What great city near its mouth ? 

Products. — In the fertile plains large crops are grown, yet 




Victoria, Queen of England. 



ENGLAND. 



199 



great quantities of grain and other kinds of food must be 
imported. 

The wealth of England lies in her coal and iron mines. 
These minerals are exported, and where the coal is mined vast 
manufacturing industries have sprung up. Tin and copper 
are obtained in the southwestern part. Lead, plumbago, salt, 
slate, and marble are also mined. 

Cities. — England, for its size, which is about that of New 
York, contains 
more large towns 
than any other 
country in the 
world. 

London, the 
capital, is the 
largest and rich- 
est city in the 
world. It is built 
on both sides of 
the Thames, and 
has magnificent 

bridges which span the river. Like New York, London has 
immense manufactures and commerce. Liverpool and New 
York surpass London in foreign trade, but London has an 
enormous coasting trade. 

In London, is St Paul's Cathedral, the largest Protestant church in the 
world. Westminster Abbey contains the tombs of many of England's 
great monarchs, statesmen, soldiers, and authors. The Tower of London 
has been a palace, a prison, a fortress, and it is now an armory and a 
treasury for jewels. The British Museum is very rich in its collections. 
00-00. 

Liverpool is the second port. Its docks extend for six miles 
along the river Mersey. A splendid line of steamers runs be- 
tween Liverpool and New York. Liverpool sends to the 




Victoria Embankment, London. 



200 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

United States cotton, woolen, and linen goods, hardware and 
cutlery, iron and steel goods. What does it receive from onr 
country ? 

Manchester, on a branch of the Mersey, is the largest manu- 
facturing city in the world. It is a city of warehouses, filled 
chiefly with cotton goods. A ship canal has been built from 
the Mersey to give the city direct communication with the sea. 

Birmingham, the fourth city in size, is in the center of the 
coal and iron trade. It is a town of workshops, where are 
manufactured all kinds of articles that are made from any 
metal, from needles and pens to stoves and steam engines. 
Toys are made here in such quantities that the city is called 
the " Toy Shop " of Europe. 

Sheffield, on the Don, makes the best cutlery in the world. 

Oxford and Cambridge are famous university towns. 

Islands. — Among the islands of Great Britain, the Isle Qf 
Wight in the English Channel is the most beautiful. 

The Isle of Man, in the midst of the Irish Sea, has herring 
and cod fisheries. Its natives have their own governor and 
make their own laws. 

90. Scotland. 

Extent. — Scotland has about 700 islands near it, and with 
these islands it is about two-thirds the size of England. 

Most of the Scottish islands are on the north and west 
coasts. In the north are two groups of islands, the Orkney 
and the Shetland. The Orkneys are very bleak and dreary ; 
they have important fisheries. The Shetland Islands are 
noted for their little Shetland ponies. 

The many islands along the western coast, called the 
Hebrides, or the Western Isles, are wild and rugged, and 
many of them are famed for their grand mountain scenery. 

The small island of Staffa has wonderful caverns. 



SCOTLAND. 



201 



Firths. — The coast of Scotland is broken by many inlets of 
the sea. These inlets, as well as the lakes, are called lochs, 
and the months, 
or estuaries of 
the rivers, are 
called firths. 

The eastern 
coast is little 
broken, but it 
has three large 
firths,— the Mo- 
ray Firth, the 
Firth of Tay, 
and the Firth of 
Forth. Which is 
the longest ? 

From Moray 
firth a chain of 
lakes, joined to- 
gether to form 
the Caledonian Canal, extends to the Firth of Lorn on the west, 
and through their waterway vessels can pass from the North 
Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. A canal connects the Firth of 
Forth with the Firth of Clyde. These two firths lead into 
the midst of the coal and iron fields of Scotland, whose prod- 
ucts are carried down by their waters. On the banks of the 
firths of Clyde and of the river Clyde great ships are built. 

Lakes. — The best known of the beautiful lakes are Loch Katrine, 
called "The Queen of Scottish Lakes," and Loch Lomond, which Sir 
Walter Scott has made famous in his poem, " The Lady of the Lake." 

Relief. — Three-fourths of the surface of Scotland is covered 
with mountains and hills, and the scenery with the clear lakes 
and beautiful arms of the sea is very grand. 




Clam Shell Cave, Staffa. 



202 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



Cities. — "Edinburgh is the capital ; it is built on a commanding 
position overlooking the Firth of Forth. 

The largest and richest city 
and chief seaport is Glasgow. 
Besides the ship-building 
yards, where great ocean 
steamers and iron vessels are 
built and the works where 
steam engines are made, there 
are extensive cotton mills, 
glass and chemical works. 

James Watts made his first 
engine at Glasgow, and Henry 
Bell his first steamship, which he 
launched on the Clyde. 

Aberdeen is an important 
seaport at the mouth of the 
river Dee, a city built chiefly 
of granite, for it is in the midst of large quarries. This 
city has large paper mills and shipyards. 

Dundee is an important city, the center of the linen trade. 




The Crest of a Mountain in Scotland. 



91. Ireland 



Relief. — Ireland is about the size of the state of Maine, and 
consists of a low plain of clayey soil which retains the rains in 
large lagoons and lakes. The circumference of this plain has 
many mountain masses. The western coast is bold and rugged 
and greatly indented like that of Scotland, but most of the 
eastern coast is low and sandy. 

This central plain, owing to the abundance of moisture, is 
very green and is in reality an immense pasture field with 
many large bogs. The bogs are covered with peat, a substance 



IRELAND. 



203 



formed from decayed vegetable matter. This peat is cut into 
blocks, dried in the sun, and used for fuel. 

On the north coast is the greatest wonder of Ireland. It is a natural 
pier, a series of green stones arranged in low, many-sided columns, stretch- 
ing far out from the shore into the North Channel. An Irish fable says 
that giants attempted to build a road or causeway across Scotland, and 
hence these stones have received the name of the Giant's Causeway. 

Rivers and Lakes. — Most of the rivers of Ireland are short. 
The only important river is the Shannon. 

Ireland has many lakes. The largest is Lough Neagh (Nay) in the 
northeast. The lakes of Killarney in the southwest with lofty mountains 
in the background, their banks densely wooded, and lovely islands in 
their waters, are 
very beautiful. 

Cities. — Dublin 
is the capital of 
Ireland and its 
chief seaport. 

The second 
city of Ireland 
is Belfast, the 
center of the 
Irish linen trade. 

Cork, the third 
town in size, has 
a fine natural 
harbor and exports grain, cattle, dairy products, and provisions. 

Limerick, the fourth town, is in the region that abounds in 
ruins of castles, churches, and abbeys. 




Custom House, Dublin, Ireland. 



92. The British Empire. 

At the time of the discovery of America, English rule was 
limited to the British Isles, but during the last four centuries 



204 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

colony after colony has been gained, until to-day the British 
Empire is the largest and most powerful in the world. Its 
area is half larger than North America, or about one-fifth of 
the entire land surface of the earth, and its population is much 
greater than that of our Western Hemisphere. 

In every zone Great Britain's possessions are found, from 
the ice fields of Hudson Bay to the tropical jungles of India ; 
and her subjects vary in civilization from the savage Kaffirs 
of the Cape Colony to the cultivated people of London or 
Toronto. 

Sixty years ago only camps of the native savages were to be 
found in Australia, and in New Zealand the Maoris held their 
war-dances and devoured their prisoners. Now all the Aus- 
tralian colonies have over four millions of British subjects. 

The greater part of temperate south Africa belongs to Great 
Britain, as well as vast territories in equatorial Africa. 

Honduras in Central America, British Guiana in South 
America, some of the West Indies and many of the islands 
of the Pacific are British possessions. 

The most important of all her colonies is the Indian 
Empire. 

Historical Note. — Great Britain first became known to other peoples 
of Europe through the Phoenicians. In 55 b.c. the Romans under Caesar 
(see p ) came from Italy and established their rule upon the island. 
They found there a native Celtic people called Britons, and they named 
the land Britannia (modern Britain). In Wales and in the district of 
Cornwall the descendants of these Britons have retained to this day the 
physical characteristics and the language of their ancestors. 

The Romans withdrew in the fifth century a.d. from this distant 
province of theirs in order to defend their own country from enemies. 
An invasion soon followed of Teutonic (German) tribes from across the 
North Sea, the Angles, Saxon, and Jntes, who, after many years of war- 
fare, subdued the greater part of lower Britannia. The country was 
then called the land of the Angles, or Angle-land, a word which was 
finally changed to England. 



FBANCE. 205 

These new invaders drove the native Britons, whom they called 
Welsh, a word meaning "stranger," into the hill country in the west, 
the region now called Wales. Incessant were the wars with the Welsh, 
until, in the thirteenth century, their country was united to England. 

Bands of Scandinavians, called Norsemen, and later, Normans, had, 
in the ninth century, gained for themselves a district in France after- 
wards called Normandy. There they adopted the language and civiliza- 
tion of the French. In 1066 William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, 
invaded and conquered England. 

A long period ensued in which there were two distinct languages 
spoken in England. The speech of the common people was Anglo- 
Saxon, that of the Teutonic invaders of the fifth century ; the official 
speech was Norman-French, that of the invaders of the eleventh century. 
From the union of these two languages our modern English has been 
derived. 

The earliest inhabitants of Scotland were a Celtic people called Picts. 
During the Roman dominion on the island two walls were built, the first 
from the Solway to the Tyne, the second from the Forth to the Clyde, 
as a protection against this hostile people. 

In the middle of the fifth century the Saxons founded Edinburgh. 
At the beginning of the sixth century, the Scots, a Celtic people in Ire- 
land, left their native home and, crossing over to Great Britain, founded 
there in the highland region a Scottish kingdom. From them this 
northern part of the island received the name of Scotland. 

Early in the eighteenth century Scotland was united to England, and 
from a century later dates the United Kingdom of Great Britain and 
Ireland. 

93. France. 

Position and Relief. — The position of France between the 
Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea is a very advan- 
tageous one for maritime trade. Its frontiers are all natural 
ones, except the northeast one towards Germany and Belgium, 
which is guarded by a line of fortresses. 

Near the center of France there is a high plateau, from 
which the land slopes in broad, fertile plains, westward to the 
Atlantic Ocean, and southward to the Mediterranean Sea. In 



206 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



the southwest, around the low coast of the Bay of Biscay, 
there are thousands of square miles that are inhabited only by 
a few sturdy shepherds. The land here consists of dreary, 

barren plains, partly 
sand and partly marsh, 
called Landes, where 
only coarse grass and 
furze can grow. 

The French Alps lack 
the grandeur of those of 
Switzerland, but they 
have many imposing and 
picturesque sites. 

Mont Blanc, the high- 
est peak of the Alps, is 
in France. 




Fig. 106. 



Near its summit lies the great glacier, the Mer de Glace, and at its 
foot the delightful valley of Chamonix. (p. 00.) 

Waterways of France. — The rivers of France are navigable to 
all parts of the interior, and canals complete the waterways. 
Marseille is connected by canal and river with Havre and 
with Bordeaux, thus making two means of water transportation 
from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic across France. 

Products. — In the north of France, wheat, corn, and beet root 
for sugar are cultivated; in the center, fruits such as grapes, 
plums, pears, and apples ; and in the south, olives, oranges, 
figs. What does this tell you about the climate of the 
country ? 

Russia is the only country of Europe that produces more 
agricultural products than France, but Russia has three times 
as many acres under cultivation. Most of the French farms 
are very small. France produces more wine than any other 
country. 



FRANCE. 



207 



Coal and iron are mined, but the supply is not sufficient for 
the country, and much is imported. 

Industries. — Only Great Britain and the United States sur- 
pass France as a manufacturing and trading country. Textile 
manufactures, silk, woolen, linen, and cotton, are the most 
important. The taste and inventive skill of the French are 
largely employed in the manufacture of fancy articles, in 
which they have no rivals. The porcelain made at Sevres, 
near Paris, and also at Limoges, is famous the world over. 

France is one of the great military powers of Europe, and 
her navy is second only to that of Great Britain. 

Cities. — Paris, the capital, is called the finest city in the 
world. In no other city are there so many grand palaces, 
churches, museums, picture galleries, theaters, and places of 
amusement, and such bright, gay, well-shaded streets with 
noble monuments 
and beautiful 
fountains, as in 
the new part of 
Paris. 




The Louvre, the 
most celebrated pic- 
ture gallery and 
museum, is filled 
with some of the 
most valuable pic- 
tures and historical 
treasures in the 
world (00:00). 

Once a hospital for old soldiers, the Hotel des Invalides, covering 
eighteen acres, is now the military museum of France. In its church is 
the tomb of Napoleon (00:00). 

The finest of the churches is the Cathedral of Notre Dame (00:00). 

Ten miles from Paris is a grand palace, the Palace of Versailles, whose 
gardens are the most beautiful in Europe (00:00). 



Arc du Carousal, Paris. 



208 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

Lyon is the second city of France in size and the first in 
manufactures. Its silk manufacture is the greatest in the 
world. 

The chief port of France is Marseille, a strongly fortified 
city. It has an extensive commerce in wines and fruits, cork 
and anchovies. 

Havre, the second port, carries on the commerce with Great 
Britain and the United States. 

Bordeaux is the chief wine-shipping port. It has a fine 
harbor. 

Corsica. — Corsica, the fourth island of the Mediterranean in 
size, belongs to France. It is a rugged, forest-covered, moun- 
tainous island whose inhabitants speak the Italian language. 

Historical Note. — In ancient times the country now known as France 
was called Gallia (Gaul) and was inhabited by half-barbarous nations, 
chief among which were the Gauls, or Celts. Along the Mediterranean, 
several Greek colonies had been established ; Marseille, then called Mas- 
silia, was founded by the Greeks in 600 b.c. 

Julius Caesar, the great Roman general, conquered this region between 
58 and 52 b.c, and reduced it to a Roman province. (See p. 00.) For 
more than 400 years the Romans ruled Gaul, and gave to the natives 
their civilization and a language — the Latin — that survives in a modi- 
fied form as the French language. During the Roman rule, fine road- 
ways and cities were built, and Lyon was made the capital of the province. 

The Roman Empire became so great in its extent (see p. 00) that its 
distant province of Gaul could not be defended against the invasion of 
the barbarous Teutonic tribes from the north. These tribes established 
themselves in Gaul in the fifth century a.d. The capital of the tribe 
of the Franks was founded at Paris early in the sixth century. It is 
from this tribe that the country afterwards received the name of France. 

In the eighth century, Charlemagne (Charles the Great) became ruler 
of this Frankish kingdom, which comprised parts of modern France and 
Germany. He was a great warrior, and by 800 had extended his dominion 
so that its limits were the Ebro in Spain on the west, the Elbe and the 
Theiss on the east, and included half of Italy together with Corsica, Sar- 
dinia, and the Balearic Isles. 



GERMANY. 209 

Charlemagne was crowned by the Pope as u Emperor of the West." 

His successors were unable to maintain the kingdom which he had 
built up. 

In 843 a treaty was made at Yerdun, by which France, Germany, and 
Italy became separate states. 

France grew rapidly in power despite the many wars in which she 
engaged. 

Toward the close of the eighteenth century occurred the great French 
Revolution, an uprising of the people of France against the nobility. At 
its close France was a republic, but the republic lasted only four years. 

Napoleon Bonaparte became consul and real ruler of France in 1799, 
and was crowned Emperor in 1804. 

For fifteen years Napoleon was the chief figure in the history of all 
Europe. In 1811 he had by force of arms extended the French Empire 
from the borders of Denmark to Naples, had established his kinsmen 
upon many neighboring thrones, and held under his subjection the Ger- 
man states, the Swiss Confederation, and Austria. 

Napoleon's defeat began in Russia (see p. ). All the powers of 
Europe combined against him, and captured Paris. 

At the battle of Waterloo, in 1815, the English and Prussians were 
victorious, and they restored to the throne a descendant of the old line of 
kings. 

Napoleon was exiled to the island of St. Helena, where at the end of 
six years he died. 

In 1852, Napoleon III., a nephew of the great Napoleon, was pro- 
claimed Emperor of France, after a brief term as president of a second 
republic, which had lasted but a short time. In 1870, jealous of the 
greatness of Prussia, he declared war against that country. 

In this war the Germans were victorious, and the French were forced 
to surrender to Prussia the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, with the 
important cities of Metz and Strassburg. Another result of the war was 
the establishment of the republic in France, which has continued until 
the present time. 

94- Germany. 

Size. — Germany is the third country of Europe in size. 
Although only about four-fifths as large as Texas, its popula- 
tion is four-fifths that of the United States. 



210 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



Relief. — The land of Germany slopes gradually northward 
from the Alps to the Baltic and North seas. Lower Ger- 
many, or the vast plains of the north, contrasts strikingly with 

Upper Germany, or 
the mountainous re- 
gion of the center 
and south. A large 
part of the plains 
consists of sandy 
tracts with occasional 
deposits of peat, while 
the rest is moderately 
fertile. 

Rivers and Canals. — 
Germany is well 
drained. For water 




Fig. 107. 



transportation there 
are seven large rivers 
and their tributaries, besides numerous canals. 

A ship canal from the the mouth of the Elbe in the North 
Sea to Kiel on the Baltic has recently been constructed, which 
greatly increases the importance of the Baltic ports. It saves 
the dangerous passage around the peninsula of Denmark, and 
is deep enough to float the largest ships. 

Products. — Although the greater part of the soil of Ger- 
many is poor, this is an important agricultural country, for 
the farmers are very industrious. Hops and beet sugar are 
exported. 

The mountain regions are covered with forests, and are rich 
in nearly all kinds of minerals. Coal and iron are the minerals 
mined in largest quantities. Nearly one-half of the zinc pro- 
duced in the world comes from Germany. England and the 
United States alone surpass Germany in the manufacture of 
steel. Germany is first in the manufacture of chemicals. 



GERMANY. 



211 



On the shore of the Baltic Sea amber is gathered. 

Industries. — The most important of German industries are 
the manufactures of linen and woolen goods. Cotton and silk 
goods are also manufactured. Pianos and scientific instru- 
ments, toys, dolls, wooden clocks, and various articles of wood 
carving are specialties of German industry. 

Within the last twenty years the foreign commerce of Ger- 
many has grown more rapidly than that of any other country 
of Europe, and Germany will probably become one of the most 
industrial and commercial, as it now is one of the most power- 
ful and cultivated, of nations. 

Education. — Because of superior schools, the German people 
are as a class better educated than those of the other European 
countries. 

Army. — A French writer has said that "war is the natural 
industry of Germany/' The Empire now stands at the head 
of the military powers of Europe, and is abundantly able to 
maintain its position. 

In times of peace its army numbers half a million. Every 
young German may be selected 
by lot to serve from one to three 
years in the army or navy. 

Divisions. — The German Em- 
pire consists of four kingdoms, 
Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, and 
Wurtemherg, and twenty-two 
other states. The king of Prussia 
is the Emperor of Germany. 

Berlin, the capital, has a popu- 
lation of over a million and a 
half, and is the third city of 
Europe in size. Its position, 
almost equally distant from the Elbe and the Oder, the Baltic 
and the North Seas, is a very favorable one. 




Emperor of Germany. 



212 



GBAMMAB SCHOOL GEOGBAPHT. 



#. i 



Berlin calls itself the "City of Intelligence." With its museums, its 
theaters, its library, its university, its scientific establishments, its labora- 
tories, its special schools, its numerous journals and reviews, it is the 
intellectual metropolis of Germany. 

Hamburg is the busiest port of the continent, and the second 
German town in size. Although several miles from the mouth 

of the Elbe, the tide allows 
the largest ocean vessels to 
reach its docks. 

Leipzig is the center of 
the book trade of Germany, 
and it has the largest leather 
market in the world. 

Bremen is second only to 
Hamburg as a maritime city, 
but its harbor is becoming 
shallow. 

Frankfort-on-Main is the 
great money market of Ger- 
many. 

Munich is an important 

Rath's Thor (Munich). c ity. 




Historical Note. — Germania was the name given by the Romans to 
the region but little known to them, lying between the Rhine and the 
Vistula, and the Danube and the Baltic and North Seas. It was early 
occupied by many Teutonic tribes, who were also scattered over the 
Scandinavian countries. 

Between the tribes of Germania and the Romans many wars were 
waged, and the latter for a time held considerable possessions in Ger- 
mania. They built fortresses along this frontier, and towns sprang up 
at this period which are now known as Augsburg, Ratisbon, Strassburg, 
Mayence, Worms, Cologne, Vienna. Locate these cities on the map. 

In the fourth century a.d. vast hordes of barbarians, called Huns, 
came from the steppes of Asia and invaded Germania. Some of the 
German tribes were driven westward and southward, and in their turn 



A USTEIA-HUNGART. 



213 



took possession of other territory. The fifth century saw the Franks, a 
German tribe, established in France, Spain, and Italy, having overthrown 
the Eoman Empire. (See pp. .) Other Germanic tribes, as yon 

have learned, had invaded England. 

Several German cities — Bremen, Halle, Magdeburg, Hamburg — owe 
their founding at this period to missionaries from France. 

The Treaty of Verdun (843) separated Germany from the other coun- 
tries, and for the first time there was a king whose rule included Ger- 
many alone. Under his dominion were many practically independent 
realms, however, and the unity of Germany was long hindered, not only 
by wars with neighboring powers, but by the two facts that Germany has 
no natural limits, and that its relief has naturally divided it into many 
sections. 

Many were the wars during the Middle Ages in which the Germans 
engaged, both among themselves and against foreign foes. Something 
about the Napoleonic wars you have learned. 

Prussia finally gained the ascendency over the other German states, 
and in 1871, at the conclusion of the war with France, the king of 
Prussia was proclaimed, at Versailles, German Emperor. 

95. Austria-Hungary. 




Fig. 108. 

Size. — Austria-Hungary ranks third among the European 
states in area, Russia and Scandinavia being larger. 



214 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



Relief. — This country has been very fittingly called the 
" Empire of the Danube," "since it lies for the most part within 
the basin of that river. Except in the south, the kingdom is 
almost encircled by mountains ; in the east are the Carpathian 
Mountains, in the north the mountains of Bohemia, and in 
the west the Alps of the Tyrol. 

Products. — Agriculture is the chief industry. The lower 
lands are among the most fertile portions of Europe, and if 

better methods of farming 
were in general use, they 
would be still more produc- 
tive. Cattle and sheep are 
extensively raised. Hunting 
is still an important industry 
in the forests, which cover 
about one-fourth of the area. 
Some of the mountains are 
the richest in mineral wealth 
of all Europe. Iron, coal, 
quicksilver, and salt are the 
most important products. 

Manufactures. — The chief 
manufactures are cotton and 
woolen goods, and glass ware. 
Kingdoms. — Austria and Hungary are two distinct king- 
doms, each having its own parliament and laws, but they are 
united under a common ruler and have a common army and 
navy. 

Peoples. — No common bond of race and language unites the 
inhabitants of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, for it is a land 
of many peoples and languages. In Austria proper the Ger- 
mans are the dominant race, and in Hungary the Hungarians 
or Magyars have political power, but nearly half of the entire 
population of the kingdom are Slavs 




Ruler of Austria- Hungary. 



A V STRIA-HUN GARY. 215 

The people of the Tyrol, one of the many divisions of the 
kingdom, are like the Swiss in dress, manners, and occupa- 
tions, and the scenery of Tyrol resembles that of Switzerland 
on a smaller scale. 

Cities. — Vienna is the capital of the kingdom, and the 
fourth city of Europe in size. It has over a million in- 
habitants. 

The artisans of Vienna excel in the manufacture of trifles 
in ivory, leather, paper, and metal. Vienna carries on a great 
trade with the East. 

The capital of Hungary is Budapest, two cities on opposite 
banks of the Danube united into one. It has an extensive 
trade. 

Prague, in Bohemia, is a fine city, appropriately called " the 
town of the hundred towers." 

Trieste, on the Gulf of Trieste at the head of the Adriatic 
Sea, is the chief seaport of Austria. 

Historical Note. — Austria and Hungary were provinces of the Roman 
Empire, and even then Vienna was an important place. After the fall 
of Rome these provinces were overrun and conquered by one barbaric 
horde after another, who came from the regions about the Caspian Sea. 

The foundation of the present empire of Austria was laid by Charle- 
magne. Toward the close of the eighth century he drove further east 
the tribe then in possession, and made Austria a frontier province of Ger- 
many. The German name given the province was Oester-reich, which 
means Eastern Realm. 

Among the tribes which took possession of these early Roman prov- 
inces were the Huns, and they have given to part of the country the 
name of Hungary. At the close of the ninth century came the Magyars, 
a people allied to the Lapps and Finns. Hungary came under the rule 
of the Austrians in 1526. 

When war arose between Prussia and Austria for supremacy in Ger- 
many, Prussia, as you have learned, was victorious, and since then 
Austria has had no connection with Germany. Soon after this war 
Austria was forced to acknowledge the independence of Hungary in all 
matters pertaining to self-government. 



216 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



96. The Balkan Peninsula. 




Scale: 350 miles to iudi^ 



Position. — The word 
Balkan is the Turkish 
name for mountain, and 
it explains the character 
of this southern peninsula 
of Europe, whose north- 
ern boundary extends 
from the Adriatic to the 
Black Sea. A large part 
of this peninsula is hardly 
better known than the 
wilds of Africa. 

Divisions. — For several 
Flg ' 109 ' centuries, this entire pen- 

insula was subject to the Turks, but they have grad- 
ually been losing their power here. 

Bosnia, the northwestern 
mountain region of the 
peninsula, is now under 
the protection of Austria. 
The three states of Bu- 
rn ania, Servia, and Monte- 
negro have obtained com- 
plete independence. 

Montenegro. — Montene- 
gro is a wild, mountainous, 
little country and inhabited 
by a brave, but only par- 
tially civilized people. It 
has no place larger than a 
village. 

Servia. — Servia is a 






WJif 







Sf >5» 






Rumanian Peasant Girl. 



TURKEY. 



217 



mountainous country about as large as Switzerland, but it 
has no grand scenery. The fortress of Belgrade on the Danube 

is the capital. 

Rumania. — The kingdom of 
Rumania is a continuation, in 
fact, of the rich pastoral plains 
of Russia, and cattle rearing and 
corn growing are almost the only 
industries. The mass of the 
people live in great poverty. 

Bucharest, its capital, is an 
Oriental town, — a mixture of 
huts, palaces, and courtyards. 
Its inhabitants call it the "Paris 
of the Orient." 

Bulgaria. — Bulgaria is nearly 
independent of Turkey. 

Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria. Its Capital is Sofia. 




97. Turkey. 



Extent. — The Ottoman Empire, or Empire of the Turks, 
comprises not only Turkey in Europe, but also Turkey in 
Asia and tributary territories in Africa. 

The islands of Crete and Rhodes belong to Turkey. 

Products. — Turkey holds a very low rank among European 
nations, although it is a country of great natural resources. 
The mines and the fertile fields are neglected, for the people 
are lazy and ignorant, and possess only the rudest tools. The 
transportation of goods is made chiefly on pack-horses, as the 
roads are in a miserable state. The riches of the people con- 
sist in their cattle, horses, and sheep. 

Manufactures. — Turkish carpets are famous, as is also their 



218 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

attar of roses, a perfume manufactured from roses. Olive oil 
is the staple product of Crete. 

Cities. — Constantinople, the capital of Turkey, has about a 
million inhabitants. 

Its situation is perhaps the finest of any city in the world. 
Built on both sides of the Bosphorus, the narrow strait between 
the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmora, Constantinople com- 
mands the shores of Europe and of Asia, and the traffic of the 

Mediterranean and of the Black 
Sea. 

An arm or inlet of the Bos- 
phorus, called the Golden Horn, 
extends five miles into the land 
on the European coast and forms 
for Constantinople one of the 
safest and most spacious harbors 
in the world. 

♦Historical Note. — The Turks were 
once a small tribe living south of the 
Altai Mountains. Driven out by war, 
they came into Asia Minor, where they 

The Sultan of Turkey. Were all ° Ued a Sma11 territ ° r y- They 

were fierce and warlike, and gradually 

extended their dominion until 400 years ago they held sway from the 

Caspian Sea to the Persian Gulf, from the Persian Gulf across Arabia 

and northern Africa to the Atlantic, and in Europe from the Sea of Azov 

to the Adriatic. 

Trace these boundaries on the map. 

Their chief city was Constantinople which they had captured in 1453, 
thus putting an end to the Eastern Roman Empire. (See p. 00.) They 
had for many years been victorious over all their enemies, and were pass- 
ing up the Danube into central Europe. They had created a navy which 
controlled the Mediterranean. They gained possession of Hungary, and 
held it for a century. 

Their onward march into Europe was checked by their failure to cap- 
ture Vienna, to which they had laid siege. They first came into collision 



GREECE. 219 

with the Russians in 1570, and since that time have suffered many de- 
feats at the hands of the Russians, who have taken from them Hungary 
and the northwest shores of the Black Sea. Austria has possessed itself 
of the Danube. Greece secured its independence in 1829 ; and since 
that time Rumania has likewise become independent. Its African de- 
pendencies, except Tripoli, have dropped from its grasp, for Turkey has 
become a weak power. 

Its eastern limit is now a line from the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea, 
rather than the Caspian, as heretofore. The nations of Europe no longer 
fear the Turks, but aid the empire with advice, money, and arms to pre- 
vent it from falling into the possession of Russia, its long-time enemy. 



98. Greece. 

Position and Relief. — The extremity of the Balkan peninsula 
is occupied by Greece. It consists of a northern, or conti- 
nental portion, and of the peninsula of the Morea, joined to 
the mainland by the Isthmus of Corinth. The Ionian Islands 
and a large part of the islands of the iEgean Sea also form 
part of Greece. 

The surface of Greece is everywhere mountainous, and its 
scenery presents striking views of seas and rugged heights. 
The highest point of all Greece is the famous Olympus. 

Size. — The whole country of Greece is about the size of 
Maine, and all its inhabitants together number no more than 
those of the city of Paris. But small as it is in area, it is 
great on account of the part it has had in the history of free- 
dom, of literature, of art, and of all kinds of learning. 

Produces. — Because of the mountainous character of the 
country, only about one-third of its area is capable of cultiva- 
tion, and not half of this available land is tilled. The method 
of agriculture is still very primitive. The most important 
product is currants ; next in importance are honey, olives, and 
grapes. 

Paros has fine marble from which famous statues have been 



220 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



sculptured, but its quarries are little worked owing to the lack 
of railroads and of good roads. 

Commerce. — The maritime trade 
of Greece is increasing. No part 
of the country is over forty miles 
from the sea, and all along its 
coast it has fine natural harbors. 

The Corinthian Ship Canal, re- 
cently opened, will be of great 
commercial importance. Why ? 

Cities. — Piraeus, the chief man- 
ufacturing town of Greece, will 
greatly profit by this canal, for 
owing to its position it will become 
the chief harbor of export and im- 

The Ruler of Greece. 

port. It is the port of Athens, 
joined to it by the only seven miles of railroad in the country. 
Two thousand years ago long walls connected the two places. 

Athens, the capital of the 
kingdom, is the largest town. 
This city was the " School of 
Greece" twenty centuries ago, 
and its splendid ruins are still 
the school of the whole world. 



Not even the remains of ancient 
greatness at Rome are more famous 
in the history of the world. A 
rocky height overhanging the town, 
called the Acropolis, or citadel of 
Athens, bears on its summit the ruins 
of several temples of ancient Greece, 
chief among them being the Parthe- 
non, the finest architectural work of 
the world. 

Historical Note. — The names 




Minarets of a Mosque. 



ITALY. 221 

Greece and Greeks were given to the southern part of the Balkan 
Peninsula and its people by the Romans. In the Greek language the 
name for this country is Hellas, and the people are the Hellenes, 
descendants of Hellen, the mythical founder of their race. 

The deeds of the heroes and a picture of the manners and customs of 
early Greek life are vividly told in the Iliad and the Odyssey, two Greek 
classics. 

You have noticed what a multitude of bays and inlets of the Mediter- 
ranean break up the coasts of Greece into peninsulas and islands, bring- 
ing nearly every part of the country near the seacoast. The Hellenes 
were thus naturally led to seek the neighboring islands of the JEgean, 
and the coasts of Egypt and Phoenicia. This contact with these two 
earlier civilizations made the Hellenes the earliest civilized people of 
Europe. ' 

Numerous ridges of mountains divide Greece into many small, isolated 
regions, hence independent states arose, and one after another gained 
ascendency over the others. 

The Persians several times waged war against Greece, and in the 
third century b.c, under Alexander the Great, the Greeks conquered 
Persia and Egypt, and gained control of all western Asia. East of Persia 
lay an unknown land, which Alexander traversed as far as the Sutlej 
River. He wished to continue his journey, for he thought he would 
soon reach the eastern limit of the continent, but his soldiers refused to 
advance further. 

After Alexander's early death, this great empire fell to pieces ; Greece 
was conquered by Rome, and in 146 b.c. became a Roman province. It 
continued under the rule of the Byzantine Empire till the overthrow of 
Constantinople, when it fell into the power of the Turks. After over 
three hundred years of Turkish dominion, the Greeks, aided by other 
European powers, succeeded in gaining their independence. 

99. Italy. 

Relief. — Italy in its physical features is divided into two 
distinct parts : the great plain of the north, surrounded like an 
amphitheater by the summits of the Alps and of the Apennines ; 
and the long, narrow peninsula proper, through which the 
Apennines extend, sending out branches towards both coasts. 



222 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



The plain of the north is the great cross-road where meet 
all the routes which cross the Alps in coming from France, 
Switzerland, Germany, or Austria. 

Westward and nearly parallel with the southern part of the Apennine 
range appears a chain of volcanoes. What have yon learned about one 
of them ? 

Further south is the volcanic group of the Lipari Islands with the vol- 
cano of Stromboli, called the Lighthouse of the Mediterranean, because it 

is always burning. On the island 
of Sicily is Mount Etna, the 
highest of European volcanoes. 

Climate. — What is the 
climate of the different por- 
tions of Italy ? On the 
Mediterranean slope around 
the coasts of the Gulf of 
Genoa, called the Kiviera, 
the climate is especially 
delightful. 

There is a singular clear- 
ness of atmosphere in Italy 
that greatly enhances the 
beauty of the landscape. In many districts, however, malaria 
is so prevalent that even the most fertile tracts are almost 
deserted. 

Rivers. — The northern plain is watered by the Po, the only 
great river of Italy. The Po is fed by many tributaries, and 
is ever carrying fresh material down from the heights to add 
to its delta in the Adriatic. In this way the plain has ex- 
tended many miles eastward since the old port of Adria, now 
an inland town, gave its name to the gulf. 

Products. — Scarcely any part of the world is so covered 
with irrigating canals as the plain of the north, so that it 
appears like a great garden. Cereals, especially rice, are 




Fig. 110. 



ITALY. 223 

raised. Mulberry trees and vineyards abound. This is the 
silk region of Italy. 

The agricultural products of the rest of Italy are very poor, 
and poverty is widespread, so that the people are forced to 
emigrate in large numbers. 

The mountain slopes of the Alps and of the Apennines are 
covered with forests of chestnuts, which yield a large part of 
the food of the people. 

The Italians are very fond of olive oil and of macaroni, a 
preparation made from wheat. Italy produces more olive oil 
than any other country. 

People. — The Italians are noted for their love of music and 
art. In northern Italy the peasants are intelligent and indus- 
trious. They occupy one of the most densely peopled regions 
of Europe. In southern Italy the common people are ignorant, 
and beggars are numerous. 

Cities. — No other country has so many cities remarkable 
for their historical associations, for Italy has been inhabited 
for centuries by civilized people. 

Rome, the capital, is built on seven hills along the banks of 
the "yellow Tiber/' Two thousand years ago Eome had more 
than a million inhabitants, and gloried in the title of "Mis- 
tress of the World." To-day it is great because of its past. 
It contains more objects of interest than any other city in the 
world. 

It has the largest palace and the largest Christian church. The pal- 
ace, called the Vatican, is the residence of the Pope, the head of the 
Roman Catholic Church. The largest church is the Cathedral of St. 
Peter's. 

The grandest ruin of Rome is that of the Coliseum, once used as a 
theater or circus, and large enough to hold 90,000 people. The Pan- 
theon, a curious church, is one of the best preserved of the old buildings. 
The ruins of the Forum, with its walls, columns, and temples, remain to 
bear witness of great events in the history of Rome. 



224 GBAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

The largest city of Italy is Naples. This is a very busy 
port, situated on the beautiful Bay of Naples, within sight of 
the volcano of Mount Vesuvius. 

Florence, "The Beautiful/ 7 as the Italians call it, has the 
finest collections of paintings and sculptures in the world. 

Amerigo Vespucci, who gave his name to the New World, was a 
Florentine. 

Venice, the "Queen of the Adriatic," is built on many 
islands, and the foundations of the houses are piles and stone. 
Canals form the streets, and boats called " gondolas " are the 
carriages. One can go about the city on foot, however, by 
bridges over the canals, and by narrow pathways along the 
sides of the narrow streets. 

St. Mark's Cathedral, of inlaid marble, is the finest building in 
Venice. 

The manufacture of beads and mosaics is an important industry. 

Genoa, the birthplace of Columbus and of Cabot, is the chief 
seaport and commercial city of Italy. The Italians call it 
"The Superb," or "The Proud," for even among Italian cities 
it is famous for its palaces. 

Milan is the chief city of northern Italy, and ranks next 
to Genoa in commercial importance. It has large silk manu- 
factures. 

Its beautiful Gothic cathedral, built entirely of marble, the people 
of Milan call the wonder of the world. 

Within a few miles of Carrara is a bare, mountainous range 
that contains quarries of beautiful marble. 

San Marino. — On the northeastern slope of the Apennines 
there is the oldest and smallest independent republic of the 
world, San Marino, 24 miles square in area. 

Islands. — Several islands of the Mediterranean, Sicily, Sar- 
dinia, the Lipari Islands, Elba, and others, belong to Italy. 



ITALY. 225 

The Island of Malta, south of Sicily, belongs to England, and here are 
the headquarters of the British Mediterranean fleet. 

Historical Note. — The Greeks had early peopled the southern part of 
the Italian peninsula and called it Magna Grsecia, or Great Greece. The 
Latins held Latium, a small district on the western coast of central Italy. 
Their chief city was Rome. Various other peoples occupied the rest of 
the peninsula. 

The Romans soon came into conflict with their neighbors far and near, 
and after many centuries of strife gained control of the entire peninsula. 
Then followed wars of foreign conquest. When Augustus Caesar was 
proclaimed emperor in 27 b.c, his Empire included Spain and Portugal 
and what was then the civilized world in the basin of the Mediterranean 
in Europe, Asia, and Africa. 

During the first century of the Christian era, Britain was added as a 
province. 

At the close of the fourth century the Empire was divided into an East- 
ern and a Western Empire. 

About the fate of the Eastern Empire you have learned in the history 
of Turkey. 

The Western Empire was limited to Italy and its western provinces, 
and soon came to an end. Various Teutonic tribes had gained pos- 
session of province after province, and in 476 a.d. Rome fell into their 
power. During the reign of Charlemagne, Italy was again united, but 
remained so only until his death. 

The centuries following brought to Italy conflicts and terrible wars. 

Fierce discords separated the Italians of the north from those of the south. 

The cities gained territory around them and, as republics, possessed 

great power. Venice, Genoa, and Florence were the chief of these 

republics. 

During the Crusades, Venice and Genoa grew very rich by building 
ships, transporting the Crusaders to Palestine, and bringing back the 
products of the East. Florence owed her growth in wealth and power 
to her manufactures. 

The discovery of the New World and of the route to India around 
the Cape of Good Hope deprived Italy of her commercial importance; 
for the commerce of the east and west passed to the more western 
nations of Europe. 

Italy was long the scene of warfare carried on by foreign powers. 
It was not till 1870 that Italy became an independent kingdom, 
p 



226 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



100. Switzerland, 



Position. — The little Republic of Switzerland occupies a very 
important place among the countries of Europe. A barrier in 

times of war, it is a bond of union 
during peace. 

Between Italy — the roadway from the 
extreme East — and the ports of France, 
Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany 
there is no direct and quick route that 
does not cross Switzerland. 

Four tunnels have been 







Scale. 200 miks to incte. j\i 



Fig. 111. 



Tunnels. 

made through the Alps : the Mont Cenis connects Italy and 
France ; the St. Gothard and Simplon, Switzerland and Italy ; 
the Arlberg, Switzerland and Austria. 

Relief. — Switzerland is entirely an inland country, and in 
size is only about half as large as Maine. It is the most 
mountainous country of Europe. Rocks, glaciers, forests, and 
mountain pastures cover two-thirds of its surface. Within 
this little country rise the most important ranges of the Alps. 

Lakes. — Here are innumerable lakes, famous for their clear- 
ness and the beauty of their scenery. The largest of these 
lakes are Lakes Geneva, Constance, ISTeuchatel, Lucerne, and 
Zurich. 

The magnificent mountain and lake scenery attracts every 
year to Switzerland crowds of tourists from all parts of the 
world, who contribute largely to the revenue of the country. 

Cantons. — Switzerland consists of twenty-two districts, called 
cantons, which form a confederated republic. What do you 
know about its government ? 

Industries. — Most of the people are herdsmen and shepherds 
who tend their cattle and goats, look after their dairies, and 
make excellent cheese that is sent to all parts of the world. 

Although Switzerland is forced to import almost all the raw 



SWITZERLAND, 



227 



material required for its manufactures, and has no natural 
facilities for commerce, its trade is nevertheless considerable. 

Much of the raw silk which the peasants weave comes from far-away 
China, and after cross- 
ing the Pacific Ocean, 
our continent, the At- 
lantic Ocean, and part 
of Europe, is woven 
in these Alpine vil- 
lages and returned to 
us. Cotton is also 
woven. • 

The Swiss are 
famous for their 
manufacture of 
watches and clocks, 
and for all kinds 
of articles beauti- 
fully carved out 
of wood. 

Cities. — Berne, 
the capital, is sur- 
rounded on three sides by the winding river Aar. 

The largest town is Geneva, built at one end of Lake 

Geneva, where the 
Rhone leaves the 
lake. 

Zurich, on the 
lake of the same 
name, is an impor- 
tant manufactur- 
ing town. 




Clock Tower, Berne. 




Berne, Switzerland. 



Historical Note. — 
The people who early 



228 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

occupied the valleys of the Alps were naturally involved in the wars 
of their neighbors. To have this mountainous country as a defense 
against the Teutonic, or German, tribes north of the Alps was a great 
advantage to the Romans in Italy, who held it for some time as a 
province of their great Roman Empire. 

Under Charlemagne (see p ) it formed part of the Frankish Empire, 
and in the eleventh century it was joined to the German Empire. The 
rulers placed over the Swiss cantons tried to govern them despotically. 
To such rule the brave Swiss people would not submit, and at the close 
of the thirteenth century three of the cantons united in a war for inde- 
pendence. This union was the beginning of the present confederation. 
Many wars were waged in the succeeding centuries till in 1648 (by the 
Treaty of Westphalia) Switzerland became wholly independent of the 
German Empire. 

The geographical conditions of the country have naturally divided it 
into many separate cantons, and the difference of language — for Ger- 
mans, French, and Italians make up the Swiss nationality — has tended 
to still further separate one part 'from another. It was the need of de- 
fense against their common enemies which drew the cantons together, 
and now it is to the interest of each of their more powerful neighbors 
that they maintain their bravely bought freedom. Can you explain why ? 

101. Spain. 

Position. — There is no other country in Europe with natural 
limits so marked as that of the Iberian peninsula, or Spain 
and Portugal. Separated from France by the Pyrenees, it is 
surrounded on all other sides by ocean and sea. 

Relief. — Spain consists of a lofty plateau, from two to three 
thousand feet above sea level, surrounded on all sides by 
mountainous terraces, which sometimes immediately border 
the sea, and sometimes have a narrow plain or sandy beach at 
their foot. This plateau is crossed from east to w r est by 
several mountain ridges, and between them lie the valleys of 
the rivers, the Douro, Tagus, and others. The Cantabrian 
Mountains in the north are a westward continuation of the 
Pyrenees. 



SPAIN. 



229 



Climate. — The climate is rigorous. The summers are hot, 
the winters cold, and the daily changes are often great. 

In parts of the northwest the rainfall is the heaviest in 
Europe, while during some years in parts of the east and 
southeast no rain whatever falls. 

People. — The Spaniard is usually a sober but indolent man. 
The nobility is exceedingly numerous. The lower nobility are 
usually quite poor and live in uncomfortable, filthy homes. 
Beggars are every- 
where found. 

Former Greatness. 
— The country 
now seems nearly 
two centuries be- 
hind the other 
nations of Europe, 
except Turkey, and 
it is difficult to 
realize that it once 
led them all in en- 
terprise and com- 
merce. Columbus 
went forth from 
Spain to discover a New World, Cortez to conquer Mexico, 
and Pizarro to conquer Peru. 

The discovery of a New World, however, proved disastrous 
to Spain, for it was too small a country to bear the loss of so 
many men who daringly went to found new colonies. The 
riches which were brought from Peru and Mexico contributed 
also to Spain's rapid decay, for they encouraged the natural 
indolence of its people. When these colonies were lost, the 
sources of revenue failed, and complete stagnation resulted. 
Agriculture was neglected, workshops closed, and mines de- 
serted. As late as 1848 there was not a single mile of railroad 




Fig. 61 



230 GRAMMAB SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

in the country. Since that time improvements have taken 
place. 

Products. — There are large deposits of coal and iro,n in 
Spain, yet the mines are so poorly worked that these minerals 
are imported from Belgium and England. The most important 
mines are those of quicksilver and copper. Lead, tin, and salt 
are abundant. 

Agriculture is the most important industry, yet a great part 
of Spain is uncultivated. The merino sheep of Spain furnish 
valuable wool. The export of wine is considerable, and other 
exports are olive oil, minerals, fruits, and wool. 

Manufactures. — Cotton is the chief manufactured article of 
Spain, though silk stuffs are also wrought. Corks and paper 
are made in large quantities. 

Colonies. — The islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico of the West 
Indies, the Philippine Islands and other islands of Asia, besides 
small possessions in Africa, belong to Spain. 

Cities. — Madrid, the capital and largest city of Spain, is sit- 
uated near the center of the country. Although only five degrees 
north of Africa, the winters are sometimes exceedingly severe. 

Barcelona, the second city in size, a large port, and the most 
important manufacturing city, has a beautiful situation upon 
the Mediterranean coast. 

Cadiz, the chief port, and an important commercial city, is 
one of the most ancient towns of Europe. By whom and 
when was it founded ? 

Malaga, a southern seaport, has a wonderfully dry and uni- 
form climate, and as a resort for invalids is superior to any 
city, even in Prance or Italy. 

Granada lies at the foot of the Sierra Nevadas. The Moors 
call it " The Queen of Cities." 

A fortified suburb of Granada is Alhambra, where stand the exquisite 
remains of the palace of the ancient Moorish kings, and one of the most 
wonderful buildings in the world. 



SPAIN. 231 

Gibraltar, the most strongly fortified city in the world, sit- 
uated at the base of a rock over a thousand feet high, belongs 
to the British. It is called " The Key to the Mediterranean." 

Historical Note. — The southwestern peninsula of Europe was early- 
visited by the Phoenicians, who were attracted far into the interior by 
the rich mines in the mountains. 

When the Greeks became acquainted with this part of the Mediter- 
ranean world they called it the " world's end." 

In the third century B.C., the Carthaginians had established themselves 
in half of the peninsula. Cartagena was their capital. As a result of 
the wars between Rome and Carthage, this part of Spain became a 
Roman province. The Roman conquest was a slow one, however, because 
of the mountains and forests of the interior. The Roman conquest was 
completed by the beginning of the Christian Era. There were many 
nourishing cities along the Mediterranean coast, and Spain became more 
thoroughly Romanized than any other province of the great empire out- 
side of Italy itself. 

During the general migration of Teutonic tribes in the fifth century, 
Spain fell into the hands of the Goths, whose dominion lasted only till 
the invasion of the Arabs early in the eighth century. The last of the 
Mohammedan conquerors were not expelled till seven centuries later, in 
the same year that America was discovered by Columbus. 

During their dominion Spain rose to be a great powder, and in the 
tenth century it was the center of learning in Europe. Many old Spanish 
towns contain beautiful remains of Moorish architecture, which tell of 
the grandeur of this period of Moorish dominion (see p. 00). 

The many mountain chains of Spain divide it like a checker-board into 
a number of isolated regions, where have developed different political 
states, inhabited by people who have maintained their own peculiarities 
of character as well as of dialect. 

The union of two of these states, Castile and Aragon, upon the mar- 
riage of Ferdinand and Isabella, was the beginning of the kingdom of 
Spain. What have you learned about these sovereigns ? By the close 
of the fifteenth century, Spain, from the Pyrenees to Gibraltar, was a 
united kingdom. 

The immense colonial empire founded in the sixteenth century in 
Mexico and South America was lost to the Spaniards in the nineteenth 
century. 



232 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



102. Portugal. 

Independence. — Portugal once formed a part of Spain. 



It 



was one of the kingdoms formed when the Christians began 
to drive out the Mohammedans. Owing to the stretch of 
dreary country eastward from the present boundary between 
the two kingdoms, Portugal was able by wars and conquests 

to establish its independence. 

People. — The Portuguese dif- 
fer essentially from the Span- 
iards, and they still regaxd the 
latter with hatred and jealousy, 
chiefly because in the past the 
Spaniards have tried to over- 
throw the independence of Por- 
tugal. 

Former Greatness. — The Por- 
tuguese under Bartholomey 
Diaz rounded the Cape of Good 
Hope and with Vasco da Gama 
founded, along the coasts of 
Africa and India, a large 
colonial empire. 

What country of South 
America was first settled by 
the Portuguese ? 
Colonies. — To-day only a small part of Portugal's ancient 
power remains, and it is perhaps the most obscure and the 
least heard of, of all European powers. Its most important 
colonies are at the mouths of the Kongo aud Zambesi rivers 
in Africa. A few islands, the Azores, Madeira, and the Cape 
Verd, belong to Portugal. 

Products. — Only one-half the soil is cultivated. Wine is the 
chief export. 




Carlos I., King of Portugal. 



BELGIUM. 



233 



Cities. — Lisbon, the capital, is built upon the slopes of a low 
range of hills, and the beauty of its site is surpassed by that 
of only two other European cities, Constantinople and Naples. 
Its harbor is one of the finest in the world, and is large enough 
to hold at one time all the navies of Europe. In 1755 the 
greater part of the city was destroyed by an earthquake, and 
many thousand persons perished. 

Oporto, the second city in size, is the center of the port 
wine trade. 



SORTLI 1 



V.„ 



^^ Antwerp j^jj 



103. Belgium. 

Relief and Products. — Belgium is a fertile plain adapted for 
agriculture. In the east and southeast is the plateau of 
the Ardennes, with its bare rocks, one of the richest coal 
regions of Europe. Hence Belgium is 
both an agricultural and an industrial 
country. 

Commerce. — The variety and value of 
her manufactures and her mineral wealth 
have made Belgium a commercial state 
excelled, among European countries, only 
by England, France, and Germany. Fig> 64# 

Belgium has no colonies, but the king of Belgium has created and 
directs the "International African Association," which has for its ob- 
ject the exploration of central Africa. This association fouuded the 
Kongo State. Stanley was sent to Africa as its agent. 






-^BRUSSELS 



fcr 



Ar 



1—&5Q 



"1 O 



Scale: 200 miles to inch. 



People. — This is the most densely peopled country of 
Europe. Part of the people are Flemings, a branch of the Ger- 
man family, and a part are Walloons, a branch of the French. 
French is the language of the court and of the higher classes. 

Cities. — Brussels, famous for its lace manufacture, is the 
capital of Belgium. 



234 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



Ghent is situated at the junction of four rivers. It is the 
third city of Belgium in population, but the first in industry. 

It has extensive cotton and linen 
manufactures. 

It was in this city that the first English 
book was printed by Caxton. 

Antwerp, the second city in popu- 
lation, is the only large seaport of 
Belgium, and is the most important 
of continental Europe. The com- 
merce of its harbor is excelled only 
by that of London, Liverpool, and 
New York. 

Liege is a busy manufacturing 
town. Here steam engines, firearms, 
and all kinds of machinery are made, 
King of the Belgians. an d woolen cloth manufactured. 




104. The Netherlands. " ~ 

The Netherlands, a name meaning the Low Countries, is 
the official title of the country which is 
often spoken of as Holland. 

Relief. — Much of the land is lower 
than the level of the sea, and in spite of 
the dikes erected as barriers to the sea, 
it has been frequently submerged. The 
Zuyder Zee is a large gulf about sixty 
miles in length, which w^as formed by 
the breaking of the sea into an inland 
lake. A chain of islands now marks the line of the former 
coast of the mainland. This submerged land is gradually 
being drained by the persevering people of the Netherlands 




Fig. 65. 



THE NETHERLANDS. 



235 




Land Reclaimed from the Sea. Holland. 



and transformed into fertile fields. The sea of Harlem and 
many marshes have been reclaimed in like manner. 

Former Greatness. — The people of the Netherlands, the 

Dutch, were 
trained by their 
constant struggle 
with the sea, 
and early became 
skilled engineers 
and mariners. 
Their soil was 
at first poorly 
adapted for agri- 
culture, hence the 
riches which their country could not give them they sought 
from afar. They became colonizers and traders. They were 
the people who first settled New York. At the close of the 
seventeenth century, they were 
the true rulers of Europe, and 
although this supremacy has 
long since been lost, their coun- 
try is to-day one of the richest 
(according to size) and most 
densely peopled in Europe. 

Canals. — The rivers of the 
Netherlands, with innumerable 
canals and ditches, intersect 
the country in every direction. 
Often half of the streets of a 
village are canals. The canals 
drain the country, changing 
marshy land into rich meadows. Windmills pump the water 
into the canals, and are also used to saw timber, grind corn, 
and beat hemp. These windmills, with their bright colors, 




Queen of the Netherlands. 



236 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



are very picturesque, but they are gradually being replaced 
by brick buildings with tall chimneys ; for steam is doing 
the work of wind. 

Products. — The Dutch are an exceedingly thrifty, hard- 
working people. They succeed in raising good crops of rye, 
wheat, oats, and other farm produce, while they export cattle, 
sheep, butter, and cheese. 

Commerce and Colonies* — The commerce of the Netherlands 

is great. Almost 



all the islands of 
the East Indies, 
Dutch Guiana in 
South America, 
and several of 
the West Indies 
are colonies of 
the Netherlands, 
and contribute to 
its commerce. 

Cities. — Am- 
sterdam, the larg- 
est city, was at 
one time the 
greatest port in the world. It is built on a number of small 
islands. The great North Holland Canal extends for fifty 
miles to the entrance of the Zuyder Zee. Another one, built 
due west to the North Sea, has greatly increased the shipping 
of Amsterdam. 

Kotterdam is now the chief port and the second city in size. 
It has a great foreign trade. 

The Hague is the official capital. 

Utrecht is a curious old town, famous for being the place 
where the provinces of the Netherlands united themselves 
into a confederacy. 




A Scene in Ho.land. 



SCA NDINA VI AN CO UNTRIES. 



237 



Historical Note. — The term Netherlands at first included the present 
kingdom of the Netherlands together with Belgium and the northernmost 
parts of France. This region was divided and formed parts of the vari- 
ous kingdoms of Europe which successively held power in the central 
part of the continent. 

In the middle of the seventeenth century (by the Treaty of West- 
phalia, 1648), the independence of the United Provinces of the Nether- 
lands was acknowledged by the rest of Europe. Early in the nineteenth 
century, through the efforts of Napoleon, it was made a kingdom and 
later joined to France. The Congress of Vienna, which settled the polit- 
ical affairs of Europe after Napoleon's overthrow, re-established the 
Kingdom of Holland and joined to it Belgium, then known as the 
Spanish Netherlands. The differences of nationality and of language, of 
religion and of customs, between the Dutch and the Belgians, were too 
great, and in 1830 they separated into two of the smallest states of 
Europe. 



105. Scandinavian Countries. 



~S T ortli,Cxf>e a'Sj^' 



Position. — Norway, Sweden, and Denmark comprise the 
Scandinavian countries, whose 
people speak languages very 
similar, and have had historical 
destinies nearly in common. 
They occupy the Wo penin- 
sulas west of the Baltic, which 
probably were at one time 
united, while the Baltic was 
an inland sea. 

Scandinavian Peninsula. — This 
peninsula is the largest one 
of Europe. It has two king- 
doms, Norway and Sweden, 
separated by long ranges of 
mountains which extend nearly the whole length of the penin- 
sula. Norway and Sweden, like Austria and Hungary, have 




~ u> inch 



Fig. 62. 



238 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

separate parliaments and laws, bnt are united as one kingdom 
under the same king. 

Relief of Norway. — Norway is a plateau descending ab- 
ruptly towards the ocean, with snow-covered mountains, and 
deep and narrow valleys. All along the shore of the Atlantic, 
fiords, filled with such clear water that one can see the bottom 

through a depth of 100 feet, reach 

far inland. 

The sides of the fiords are steep 
walls sometimes 1000 feet high, over 
which waterfalls leap into the abyss ; 
or glaciers, the largest in Europe, 
descend through these arms of the sea 
nearly to the water's edge. 

Relief of Sweden. — The surface 
of Sweden is very different from 
that of Norway. It descends 
from the mountains in the west 
by gentle slopes to the shores of 
Ruler ' the Baltic, and forms part of the 

great European plain. Instead of fiords, Sweden has moun- 
tain lakes, narrow and deep. 

Rivers. — The many rivers of Scandinavia are useless for 
navigation, as they are so broken by rapids and falls, but they 
floa.t down the valuable timber of the forests, and the rapids 
give abundant mill power. 

Islands. — Innumerable islands of every size skirt both 
shores of the peninsula. Sweden is said to have two coasts, 
because the little rocky islands seem to form an outer coast ; 
between them and the mainland the water is smooth, no mat- 
ter how rough may be the sea beyond. 

Not many of these islands are inhabited, but off the coast 
of Norway there are a few which at certain times of the year 



SCANDINAVIAN COUNTRIES. 239 

present a very busy scene. What have you learned about the 
Loffoden Isles ? 

In the passages between these islands there are numerous whirlpools, 
the most famous of them being the Maelstrom. It is caused by a tremen- 
dous current running in opposite direction to the wind. Where the whirl- 
pool is formed, the water suddenly changes from 20 fathoms to 200 
fathoms deep. 

Climate. — During a considerable part of the year the Baltic 
is frozen, and all the ports of Sweden are closed, while all the 
western coast of Norway, even to the North Cape, is free from 
ice all the year round. Can you explain this ? There is no 
other land w r ithin or near the Arctic Circle that has so temper- 
ate a climate as the coast of Norway. On the opposite side 
of the Polar Ocean, in the same latitude, is Greenland with 
its ice fields. The North Cape has a winter less severe than 
that of Quebec, 25 degrees nearer the equator. 

In the part of the peninsula lying within the Arctic Ocean, the dis- 
tribution of daylight and darkness is peculiar. From the last of May to 
the last of July there is one long day, for the sun is above the horizon all 
that time. From the middle of November to the middle of January the 
sun never rises. 

People. — The people who dwell in this northern peninsula 
are descendants of the Northmen, w r ho early visited Green- 
land. They are of middle stature, hardy and kind-hearted, 
fair-haired, and blue-eyed. 

Norway. — There are scarcely any illiterate people in Nor- 
way. Here and in Sweden, also, education is compulsory. 
Ignorance is punished as a crime. 

The fisheries give occupation and food to a large part of 
the population of Norway. There are valuable forests which 
make this one of the leading timber-producing countries of 
the world. 

Owing to the shortness of the summer and the poor quality 



240 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 




iwy; 



of the land, agriculture is not profitable, except in the extreme 
south and in deep valleys, but cattle raising is carried on ex- 
tensively everywhere. 

In proportion to the number of inhabitants, Norway has 
more sailors than any other country. Its fleet is the third 
in size in Europe, and its ocean-carrying trade is extensive. 
Kristiania, the capital of Norway, is picturesquely situated 

among pine-clad hills at the head 
of a fiord. 

The commercial town is Bergen. 

Hammerfest and Tromsoe are 

remarkable as the most northerly 

ports of the world that are open 

to navigation all the year round. 

Sweden. — The people of Sweden 
are engaged in farming, grazing, 
timber cutting, and mining. There 
are copper, silver, and iron mines 
here. From the iron, the finest 
steel in the world is t made. Spin- 
ning of cotton and woolen is an 
increasing industry. 

Stockholm, the capital, has a 
beautiful situation on a lake whose channels open to the 
Baltic through a maze of rocks and tree-covered islets. 

Denmark. — Denmark includes the peninsula of Jutland, 
south of Norway, the only important peninsula in the world 
that points northward, and the archipelago of islands which 
lie east of it in the Baltic. The far-off Faroe Islands, Ice- 
land, and Greenland also belong to Denmark. 

The sea around the coast of Jutland is shallow and diffi- 
cult of approach. The western shore is one of the most 
dangerous in the world, and the only good harbor is that 
of Copenhagen, the capital and only large city. 



A Dairymaid of Norway. 



SCANDINAVIAN COUNTRIES. 



241 




King of Denmark. 



The whole land is very low and flat. Dimes of drift sand 

extend along the west coast, where the inhabitants are fisher- 
men. The west and center of 

the peninsula are bare, sandy 

heaths, with here and there 

"holms," or islands, of more 

cultivable land. These heaths 

and marsh lands support herds 

of cattle, horses, and sheep. 

The eastern land is fertile. 
There are fine dairy farms 

in Denmark, and much butter 

and cheese are exported. 

There are very few people in 

Denmark that can neither read 

nor write. 

Iceland. — Iceland was settled more than a thousand years 

ago by people from northern Europe, and the Icelanders in 

turn settled Greenland. 

Iceland lies on the bor- 
der of the Arctic Circle, 
and in position is part of 
America; but as it be- 
longs to Denmark, it is 
considered one of the 
European islands. It is 
of volcanic origin. The 
interior is chiefly a desert 
plateau, covered by bare 
rocks, sands, lava beds, 
glacier fields, mosses, and 

a little good pasture land. There are many volcanoes, the 

most famous one being Hecla, and a vast number of geysers. 
The inhabited part of the island is along the coast, where 




The Throne of Denmark. 



242 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 




grass and dwarfed trees are found. Most of the fuel is ob- 
tained from the driftwood brought by the Polar current from 
the Siberian seas. 

Oats and barley will sometimes grow, but they seldom have 

.* * ■sm::^-%: ,.,.,:■:::■ a chance to ripen. 

Sheep, cattle and 
ponies form the 
chief wealth of the 
island. The cod- 
fisheries on the 
'fkW^ 1 ^ banks of the south 

Reykjavik. coast are valuable. 

Eider ducks and seals are taken in large numbers. 

Sulphur, Iceland spar, ponies, wool, eider down and feathers 
are exported. 

The capital is Reykjavik, an excellent port. 

Historical Note. — Scandinavia is a name originally given by the 
Romans to what they supposed to be a large island north of Germany. 

You have learned about the conquests of the Normans in France and in 
England. Later the Danes conquered Normandy and also invaded England. 

Authentic history of the Scandinavian countries begins in the ninth 
century a.d., when the many little kingdoms of Norway were united 
under one king. 

At the close of the fourteenth century Norway, Sweden, and Denmark 
were united, but in 1523, Sweden became independent. 

For a time, Sweden was one of the chief powers in Europe, with pos- 
sessions, east and south across the Baltic, but she was unable to hold 
them long. 

In 1814, Denmark was forced to cede Norway to Sweden. 



106. The Russian Empire. 

Size and Extent. — The Russian Empire is surpassed in size 
only by the British Empire. It covers an area twice as great 
as that of all Europe, and is nearly equal to all North America. 
Compare it with the United States in the figure given. In 



THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 



243 



breadth, it extends without interruption from the Baltic Sea 
in Europe to the Pacific Ocean on the eastern shore of Asia, 
a distance of 5400 miles. Through how many degrees of lati- 
tude and of longitude does it extend ? 




Scale; 2500mile3 to inciN'' 70 ^ " 80 



Fig. 69. 

What is the boundary between Russia in Europe and Russia 
in Asia, or Siberia ? 

European Russia occupies about one-fourth of the entire 
Empire, and is itself of greater extent than all of the rest of 
Europe. 

Relief. — The whole of this empire is one vast plain, except 
in eastern Siberia, where it is more mountainous. The plain 
consists of the 




frozen, treeless 
tundras of its Arc- 
tic coastland; the 
immense central 
forest region with 
cultivable and 

which supplies Fi £- 47 - 

Europe with grain ; and the treeless steppes in the south. 

Rivers and Lakes. — iSTo other country has so many great 
rivers as Russia. What are they, and where does each flow ? 
Their headwaters are connected by canals. Russia has many 



244 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



large lakes : Lake Ladoga, near St. Petersburg, is the largest 
in Europe, and Lake Baikal, 300 miles long, is the largest fresh 
lake in Asia. The White Sea is closed by ice for six months 
in the year, the Baltic for four or five, and even in the far 
south the Sea of Azov is sometimes frozen over. 

What do you know about the climate of Russia ? 

People. — The Russian Empire is more thinly peopled than 
any other part of Europe or Asia. Its entire population is 
about twice that of the United States. By far the greater 

part of the people belong to the 
Slavonic race. 

Slavonic peoples are found within the 
limits of the German Empire, in greater 
numbers within Austria-Hungary, in the 
Balkan Peninsula as subjects of the 
Turks, in Servia and Montenegro under 
their own independent princes, but in 
Russia alone have they become a great 
European power, having people of other 
races subject to them. 

The Russians of Siberia, or Si- 

beriaks, as they are sometimes 

called, are for the most part the 

descendants of exiles, who were 

sent there for political or other offenses. Now the Russian 

offenders are taken to the far-distant islands of Sakhalin, 

in the sea of Okhotsk. 

European Russia. — For two centuries and a half, the greater 
part of the inhabitants of Russia were serfs, belonging either 
to the Czar or to private individuals, and it was not till 1863 
that serfdom was abolished. Hence it is no wonder that the 
masses are without education; but great progress is now being 
made. 

Most of the people of Russia are employed in farming. 




Czar of Russia. 



THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 



245 



Rye, barley, oats, and flax are the chief crops of the north; 

wheat, hemp, tobacco, and vines, of the center and south. The 

black bread made from rye is the chief food of the peasantry. 

Timber is sent down the rivers in enormous quantities to the 

Baltic and White Seas. The steppes of the south are the great 

pastoral lands of Russia. Russian leather is everywhere 

famous. The export of bristles and brushes is very great. 

Hunting the bear, wolf, fox, deer, and 

sable gives employment to many. The 

great rivers and the Caspian and Black 

Seas and the Sea of Azof are rich in fish. 

In the Ural region there is great wealth 

of iron, coal, and gold, besides silver, 

copper, lead, and platinum. 

St. Petersburg, the capital of Russia, 

has nearly a million inhabitants. Its 

site was originally a swamp, but Peter 

the Great, about two centuries ago, chose 

it for his capital because it was on the 

Baltic, and he wished to gain the trade 

and commerce of western Europe- 
It is a new town, in comparison with other 

European cities, and is built on a large scale. Gendarme of st< Petersburg. 

The streets are wide and long, and the squares 

and public buildings large and grand. The Winter Palace of the Czar is 

the largest palace in Europe. The pride of the city is the river Neva, the 

outlet of Lake Ladoga. In places it is 300 yards wide, and the water is 

clear and beautiful. 




Moscow is surrounded by manufacturing villages and is the 
commercial city of central Russia. 

When seen from a distance, the citadel of Moscow, called the Kremlin, 
is a most brilliant sight ; walls, roofs, spires, and cupolas shine with red, 
green, white, gold, and silver. This fortress is enclosed by a stone wall. 
The Ivan, or bell-tower, rises far above the other towers, and has a chime 



246 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



of thirty-six bells. At the base of the tower is a monster bell, justly called 
the "King of Bells." It looks like a large tent of bronze and has been 
used as a chapel holding forty people. A piece weighing eleven tons is 
broken out of the side, and through this hole one can enter. 

It is by means of fairs that much of Russia's inland com- 
merce is carried on. East of Moscow is the town of Nijni 

Novgorod, where 
the largest fair 
in the world is 
held, lasting for 
three months. 
So many people 
come from all 
parts of Europe 
and Asia that the 
population of 
forty thousand is 
increased to a 
million during 
fair time. Here 
precious metals 
are brought from 
Siberia, and tea 
from China. By 
way of Astrak- 
han come the silks and shawls from Asia, and from St. 
Petersburg the manufactured goods of western Europe and 
America. 

On the northern shore of the Black Sea is Odessa, strongly 
fortified, and the seaport whence most of the grain and w r ool 
is exported. It is the second greatest grain market of the 
world. What city is the first ? 

Riga, on an arm of the Baltic, has a great trade in timber, 
hides, and tallow. 




Great Bell at Kremlin, Russia. 



THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 



247 



Warsaw is the capital of that division of Russia called 
Poland, and Kiev is one of the Russian holy cities. 

One division of Russia, called the Lieutenancy of the Cau- 
casus, extends both north and south of the Caucasus Mountains. 
Its largest town is Tiflis, which has a large trade with Persia. 

Finland. — Finland, a division of Russia in the northwest, is 
a plateau inhabited by Lapps and 
Finns, who are also found in parts of 
Norway and Sweden. It formerly be- 
longed to Sweden, and about half of 
the people speak the Swedish language. 
It raises many cattle, but its main ex- 
ports are the products of its forests, 
such as timber, pitch, tar, rosin, and 
potash. Does this remind you of any 
part of the United States ? What can 
you tell about the climate of Finland ? 

Siberia. — Siberia, the name of Rus- 
sia's Asiatic province, awakens the idea 
of a desolate country covered with ice 
and snow, and in truth, a great part of 
Siberia is uninhabitable. Yet there are 
also immense forests, perhaps the larg- 
est in the world, many millions of acres 
of very fertile soil, and great mineral Port and Church of Heising- 
wealth. 

From the Altai Mountains the same metals are obtained as 
from the Ural chain, and black lead, or graphite, from the 
mountains farther east. 

All the land in Siberia belongs to the Russian government, 
and is leased out to village communities and to individuals. 

Russia is engaged in the construction of a railway across 
her immense territory from east to west through Siberia. It 
will be longer than the distance from New York to San Fran- 




248 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 




Viceroy of Turkestan. 



cisco, and will connect Vladivostok on the Pacific to Moscow, 
which has connections with the Baltic, the Black, and the 

Caspian Seas. 

By means of this road Enssia 
hopes to come into close commercial 
relations with China and Japan, and 
at the same time to develop vast 
areas of Siberia. This region will 
produce wheat in abundance, and 
has mines of coal and iron, gold and 
silver. 

The chief cities of Siberia lie along 

the present great trade route. Along 

this line the tea of China is carried 

in a six months' journey to the great 

fairs of European Russia, partly by pony caravans, partly by 

water in summer, and more rapidly by sledges in winter. 

The richest and most civilized town of Siberia is Tomsk. 

Irkutsk has a great commerce 

with China. 

Within the division of the Rus- 
sian Empire called Russian Central 
Asia, which lies east of the Caspian 
Sea, is included a great part of the 
formerly independent districts of 
Turkestan. The great trading town 
of this region is Tashkend. 

Although by far the greater part 
of Russian Turkestan consists of 
deserts and pasture lands, yet 
by a system of irrigating canals 

the Russians will eventually make it a productive region. 
Two independent districts, Khiva and Bokhara, are under the 
protection of Russia. 




The Ameer of Eokara. 



THE BUS SI AN EMPIRE. 249 

Historical Note. — The first regular government in Russia was estab- 
lished at Novgorod in the year 802. The ruler of Russia assumed the title 
of Czar about the time that Columbus discovered America. About this 
time the Turks determined to unite the Black and Caspian seas by a 
canal between the Don and the Volga. To do this it was necessary to get 
possession of Astrakhan. Why ? Astrakhan asked aid of Russia against 
the Turks, and it, with the surrounding country, was absorbed by Russia. 

At this time also a Russian general invaded Asia and captured the city 
Sibir, near where is now Tobolsk. The country around Sibir was named 
Siberia and attached to Russia. In about fifty years the Russians ex- 
tended their power across Asia to the Pacific. Peter the Great, Czar r 
Russia, was anxious to make Russia a naval power, but he had no 
port, for Sweden kept him away from the Baltic, and the Turks from t. 
Black. He conquered the east shores of the Baltic from Sweden, and 
founded St. Petersburg. The north shores of the Black he conquered 
from Turkey. In 1812, Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Russia and defeated 
the Russians. He proposed to make his winter quarters in Moscow, but 
the Russians burned Moscow. Napoleon had thus no shelter for his 
troops in the midst of a Russian winter, and was obliged to leave Russia 
in a disastrous retreat. 

True to the policy of Peter the Great, Russia is still seeking seaports. 
Her chief port on the Pacific, Vladivostok, is so far north that its harbor 
is closed by ice in the winter. Russia and England are rivals for the 
possession of territory and power in Asia. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS. 

Name and describe the five rivers of Europe most important for com- 
merce. Why is the Rhine important commercially ? Compare the Hud- 
son River and the Rhine. 

On what waters would a ship sail in going from the mouth of the Rhine 
to the mouth of the Rhone ? In going from Marseille to St. Petersburg ? 
In going via the Suez Canal from Bremen to Canton ? 

A tunnel under the Strait of Dover is proposed. What advantages 
or disadvantages would come to France and the neighboring countries 
from this tunnel ? Describe the North Sea and its shores. 

Describe a voyage down the Rhine, Rhone, Danube, Volga, Thames ; 
make note of cities, people, occupations, products, scenery, objects of 
special interest. 



250 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

Compare the fisheries of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. Give 
some account of Norwegian fisheries. 

What climatic influence have the Alps upon Central Europe ? Europe 
is much warmer than any other land in the same latitude. Why ? 

The only important peoples and cities are north of what parallel of 
latitude ? Find a city in Europe as far from London as Chicago is from 
New York. Name the capital cities of Europe. 

In what country of Europe is commerce carried on considerably by 
caravans ? What are the chief industrial regions of Europe ? 

To what cities in Europe would an importer send for raisins ? Figs ? 
Oranges ? Grapes ? Wines ? Woolens ? Carpets ? Laces ? Watches ? 
Toys ? Cutlery ? Velvets ? Silks ? Olive oil ? Cork ? Sulphur ? 

Compare Los Angeles, California, with Florence, Italy. Compare 
London, Antwerp, and Hamburg as commercial cities. 

Describe Moscow. Give some account of the mines of the Ural. 

Compare the Scandinavian peninsula with Greenland. Give an 
account of the Norwegian shores and fiords. Describe a winter in 
northern Norway. Give some account of the Scandinavian forests. 
Compare Scotland and Norway. 

There is a part of Europe called the " Bohemian Kettle." From this 
kettle the Danube escapes by the " iron gate." These are not named 
on the map. Can you locate them ? 

Spain is said to be almost Africa. Why ? 

Why are all the leading nations of Europe so much interested in the 
affairs of Turkey ? What two European nations are rivals in Asia ? 

REFERENCES. 

Hale : Sev<m Spanish Cities 
Dp Charllu : Land of the Midnight Sun. 
Wallace : Russia. 
Manning : Italian Pictures. 
Green : German Fatherland. 
Chisholm : Handbook of Commercial Geography. 
Harper's Monthly, August, October, 1891. 

Chautauquan, May, June, August, December, 1893 ; March, May, 
October, November, 1891 ; May, 1895. 
Cosmopolitan, April, 1893 ; June, 1891. 
Review of Reviews, April, 1895; November, 1895. 
Scribner's Magazine, January, April, 1894. 



ASIA 



Situation and Extent. — What oceans border Asia? What Grand 
Divisions are connected with it ? What are the parallels, omitting Ma- 
lacca which bound it ? What meridians bound it ? 

In what zones does it lie ? What part of Asia is crossed by the Tropic 
of Cancer ? By the Arctic Circle ? 

The area of Asia is 17,000,000 square miles, — one-third of 
all the land on the earth's surface. Its greatest distance 
north and south, 
along the one hun- 
dredth meridian, 
is 5300 miles, and 
the distance 
across the conti- 
nent from Africa 
to East Cape, 
which juts out 
between the Pa- 
cific and Arctic 
Oceans is 6700 
miles. How does 
it compare in size 
with the United 
States? Name Fig- 44. 

the waters surrounding Asia. (Please add 4 or o words to fill. 

Peninsulas and Islands. — As in Europe, the most remark- 
able peninsulas of Asia are on the south. What are they ? 

251 




252 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

Arabia, the most compact, may well be compared with. Spain ; 
India, with its island of Ceylon, to Italy with the island of 
Sicily ; Indo-China, the most broken of the three peninsulas, to 
Greece. There are two other large Asiatic peninsulas, — Asia 
Minor on the west, and Kamchatka on the northeast. 

Asia is bordered on the east by large groups of islands, on 
which is a series of volcanoes forming part of the circle of 
fire of the Pacific Ocean. Some of these islands are among 
the richest and most populous regions of the world. They 
are : Sakhalin, belonging to Russia ; the islands of Japan ; 
the Chinese island of Hainan ; the Philippine Islands, and 
Malasia. . 

Relief. — Asia has an enormous mass of mountains and of 
plateaus, which occupy all the center of the continent and 
continue toward the east and west by high plateaus and chains 
of mountains, — the highest in the world. Immense plains 
border these mountainous regions on the north, east, and south. 
The Plateau of Pamir has been given the name of the "Roof 
of the World " by the Hindus. 

Eastward from the Pamir is the Central Highland, bounded 
by the Himalaya Mountains on the south and by the Tian 
Shan on the north. 

Crossing this highland from west to east, and dividing it 
into two parts, are the Kuen Lun Mountains. The highland 
south of the Kuen Lun Mountains is Tibet. ISTorth of these 
mountains is Turkestan, which extends eastward into the 
Desert of Gobi, a region much less elevated, than Tibet, 
but more desolate. It was formerly the bed of a sea as 
large as the Mediterranean, which has dried up and become 
an arid desert. 

Prom the Pamir northeast to East Cape extend ranges 
of mountains bearing different names in different parts. 

In the eastern part of the Central Highland commences 
a bundle of parallel mountain chains separated from each 



Asia. 253 

other by great rivers. They spread over all the peninsula 
of Indo-China, and one of them extends to the southern 
extremity of Malacca. 

Westward from the Pamir extend the Hindukush Moun- 
tains. Beyond these to the west lie the plateaus of Iran, 
Arabia, and Asia Minor. 

North of the Central Highland lies Siberia. 

Northwest of the Pamir is the great Caspian depression. 
During the last 400 years, the Caspian Sea has diminished 
in area about 4000 square miles. 

Rivers. — The rivers of Asia flow outward from the great 
highlands of the interior to the Arctic, Pacific, and Indian 
Oceans. 

Rivers of the Arctic Ocean.— Three great rivers, the largest 
of Asia, flow into the Arctic Ocean, the Obi, the Yenisei, and 
the Lena. Along these rivers are situated the great cities of 
Siberia. 

The Obi is 2700 miles long,- and is the richest in fish of all 
the Siberian rivers. Its tributary, the Irtish, is flooded when 
the snows of the plains melt in May, and again in July, when 
the snows melt on the mountains in the south. At these times 
only tree tops rise above the broad waste of waters. 

The Yenisei is still larger, and ranks next to the Missis- 
sippi in size. Its chief tributary has its source in Lake Baikal. 
The Yenisei already has a large traffic by steamer in summer 
and by sledge in winter, and if the navigation of the Kara Sea 
can be made practicable, this river may carry on a summer 
trade with Europe, bringing the furs, wheat, flax, and hemp of 
this region to the European market. 

The Lena is a highway for trade in eastern Siberia. 

Rivers of Pacific Ocean. — Three of the rivers which enter the 
Pacific Ocean are very large. The Amur, the only river of 
northern Asia not flowing into the Arctic Ocean, is navigable 
for nearly 2500 miles. 



254 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

The Whangho, or Yellow River, and the Yangtze, or Blue 
River, rise near each other in the mountains of eastern Tibet, 
and after widely divergent courses, approach each other again 
near their mouths. The Whangho is a turbulent river, little 
used for navigation, and it has often changed its lower course. 
The last change in 1887 buried whole villages in mud, and left 
its mouth 300 miles farther south than before. 

The Yangtze is the great commercial highway of China, 
being navigable for large vessels 1200 miles from its mouth. 
Farther on it has many rapids, and passes through narrow 
clefts with precipitous walls of rock. 

Rivers of the China Sea. — The Mekong, or Cambodia, the 
greatest river of Indo-China, flows into the China Sea. This 
river is too much narrowed in places by sandbanks and rocks, 
however, to become a great trade highway. 

Rivers of the Bay of Bengal. — The Sal win and Irawadi are 
navigable rivers. 

At the head of the Gulf of Bengal is the largest delta in 
the world, that of the Brahmaputra and the Ganges Rivers. 
The Ganges is 1500 miles long and is the chief means of com- 
munication and traffic in Hindustan. Spring tides rush up 
the river with great force, and near its mouth the tide some- 
times rises to a height of twelve feet. 

Rivers of Arabian Sea. — The waters from the west of the 
Himalayas flow into the Indus and its several tributaries. 
This river follows the mountains for several hundred miles 
and escapes from them through a deep gorge. It has shifting 
channels and sandbanks, and as its course is through an arid 
country it is of less value as a highway of traffic than one 
would expect from its magnitude. 

Rivers of Persian Gulf. — The great highways of the ancient 
plain of Mesopotamia, the Euphrates and its twin brother 
Tigris, have played a great part in history. The Euphrates, 
" The Great River," has its source near Mount Ararat, flows 



Asia. 255 

westward and southward. The Tigris, "The Arrowy/' is a 
more rapid river and brings down great quantities of mud. 
It joins the Euphrates about 120 miles from the head of the 
Gulf. 

Interior Drainage System. — The Syr-Daria (or Jaxartes) and 
the Amu-Daria (or Oxus) are the largest of the interior rivers. 
They rise on the western sides of the Pamir and flow into the 
Aral Sea. Numerous rivers rise in the Hindukush, which are 
lost in salt lakes or in the desert. 

Lakes. — The lakes of Asia are very numerous. Most of 
them are without outlet and are either on high plateaus or 
on the steppes. Others, like Lake Baikal, are the reservoirs 
whence rivers draw their waters. 

The Aral Sea, called the " Sea of Islands," is nearly as large 
as Lake Superior. Its waters are shallow and brackish, and 
although in the latitude of southern Prance, a foot of ice covers 
its surface in winter. Eventually the waters in this depression 
will become dried up. 

In the great basin of the Aral and Caspian Seas, once lived a dense 
population. From this region, in the fifth century, Attila raised his 
armies of Huns, which overran all southern Europe till Attila ruled 
from the Rhine in Europe to China in Asia. War and pestilence devas- 
tated the region, the irrigating canals were destroyed, and the barren 
land now found there bears no trace of the large cities and fertile gardens 
of which history tells us, except in the occasional ruins found half buried 
in the sand. 

Like the history of the Aral-Caspian depression is that of the Balkash, 
northeast of it, and of the Tarim, on the other side of the Pamir. 

Climate. — The Himalaya Mountains separate the warm south 
from the cold north. 

Because Asia is so massive a continent and is so covered with 
plateaus, it has a climate especially continental, except in the 
south and east. In truth, the ocean has little effect over a 
great extent of the land, and the heat and the cold are extreme 



256 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

in central Asia. The thermometer may reach 95 above zero 
in summer and 45 below in winter. 

Siberia is noted for its cold, rigorous climate. The pole of 
greatest cold lies in latitude 67°, north of Yakutsk. 

Is the rainfall of this region large or small ? 

South of Siberia in the plateau region the rainfall is slight, 
and, on account of the elevation, the climate is cold. 

China has a climate much like that of the United States. 
Japan, of course, has a maritime climate. Is it moist or dry ? 

South of the Himalayas the climate is tropical and mild, 
with heavy rains in summer and autumn. This is the region 
of monsoons. 

In northern India, near the base of the Himalaya Mountains, 
the rainfall is immense. The annual rainfall is forty feet, and 
three feet of rainfall in a single day are not infrequent. 
During the rains, the hot air, which rises from the Gulf of 
Bengal and the plains of lower India, as it sweeps up the side 
of the mountain range rising like a wall to the north, has its 
temperature lowered very suddenly, and therefore much of its 
water falls within a belt of a few miles in width. 

The desert region of western Asia extends from the Sahara 
to the basin of the Indus. Is the climate of this region rigor- 
ous or mild ? What other desert section is there in Asia ? 

Products. — Vegetation is unequally distributed over Asia. 
In the north the regions of Siberia where agriculture might 
prosper are not yet sufficiently colonized. Southwestern 
Siberia is very fertile, and capable of supporting many 
millions. High central Asia is little inhabited. The im- 
portant products are raised in southern and eastern Asia. 

The little map on the opposite page shows you the chief 
product regions of Asia. 

I. Northern plain : region of forests. 
II. Central Asia : steppes and deserts. 

III. Mediterranean region : fruits, cereals, cotton, indigo. 



ASIA. 



257 



IV. Central and northern China : tea and mulberry trees. 

V. Chief agricultural region : rice, cereals, cotton, opium. 
VI. African region : dates, coffee. 

Commerce The chief commercial regions, as well as the 

most fertile portions of Asia, are the two peninsulas of Hin- 
dustan and Indo-China, and the countries of China and Japan. 

Hindustan is already crossed by railroads, which connect 
the valley of the Ganges with that of the Indus, and unite the 
principal commercial 
ports of the peninsula. 
China possesses a net- 
work of canals and of 
roads ; the first railroad, 
constructed at great ex- 
pense, was destroyed by 
the order of the emperor. 
The rivers of Indo-China 
are difficult to navigate, 
except the Eed Eiver of Fig - 51 - 

Tonkin, which allows Trance to carry its commerce to the very 
heart of China. 

The greater part of the commerce of Asia with Europe is 
carried on by water. Eegular lines of steamboats transport 
the cotton, wheat, and rice of Hindustan; the rice, spices, 
and copper of Indo-China; the tea and silks of China and 
Japan. 

Two telegraph lines connect Europe and Asia : one crosses 
the northern part of the continent through Siberia to Japan 
and China; the other is a submarine cable reaching Aden, 
English India, and by Singapore extending to the extremity 
of eastern Asia. 

People While only about one-fifth of the area of Asia is 

thickly settled, this continent contains two-thirds of the popu- 
lation of the world. 




258 GBAMMAB SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

Of the Aryan race in Asia the most cultivated are the 
Hindus, the native people of India. Others of the Aryan 
race are the peasants of Persia and many of the inhabitants 
of the Iranian highlands, of Armenia, and the Caucasus. 

Among the Europeans who have colonized Asia, the Rus- 
sians are established there in the greatest numbers ; after 
them the English and the Erench form the largest groups. 

To the Semitic race belongs the great part of the inhabitants 
of Syria and Arabia and of the Mesopotamian plain. 

The people of the tropical southeastern peninsula and neigh- 
boring islands are Malays. 

The greater part of the 800,000,000 inhabitants of Asia is 
composed of different branches of the Yellow race. On the 
east are the Japanese, Chinese, Mongolians, and Tibetans ; 
on the south, in the peninsula of Indo-China, are the Burmese 
and Annamites and the Siamese ; on the west, the tribes of 
Turkestan, and the Turks or Ottomans in Asia Minor and 
Syria. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS. 

Make from memory a simple outline map of Asia. Draw across the 
map the equator in the proper position. Name the seas, gulfs, and bays 
on the south of Asia. 

How large a part of the earth's population is in Asia ? How large a 
part of the land surface of the earth is in Asia ? How large a part of 
Asia is thickly inhabited ? In what respects does. Asia surpass all other 
continents ? 

Compare Europe and Asia as to size ; as to highlands ; as to low- 
lands ; as to the number of peninsulas. Compare the south shores of 
Europe and the south shores of Asia. 

Indicate the river basins of Asia. 

What countries of Asia have a climate like our southern states ? 
What effect does the slope of Siberia have upon the temperature ? 

Which are the fertile parts of Asia ? 

What mountain ranges would be crossed in going in a direct line from 
Paris to Canton ? 



ASIATIC TURKEY. 



259 



Name three straits and tell what waters they connect. Name three 
peninsulas on the south. One on the east. Name the islands on the 
east. ' 

Describe the central highlands. Describe the great Siberian rivers. 
Describe the three rivers of the Pacific basin. Describe the Ganges, the 
Bramaputra, the Indus, the Tigris, and Euphrates. 

Which is the cold part of Asia ? The warm ? 

Why is the rainfall of India great ? Which are the most productive 
portions of Asia ? 

Which are the chief commercial regions of Asia ? What are the main 
exports ? 

What races occupy Asia ? In what part of Asia is each chiefly found ? 







sTAD 



iCJS 



T jk te\ ■ 



rx %£ X 



\ 



107- Asiatic Turkey. 

Position and Extent. — Of what does the Ottoman Empire 
consist ? 

What have yon learned about Turkey in Europe ? 

Turkey in Asia 
occupies the western 
extremity of the 
continent. It has a 
very long coast line 
extending along the 
Black Sea and the 
Sea of Marmora, the 
iEgean and Medi- 
terranean seas, and 
the Eed Sea, while 
the southeastern 
projection of the ter- 
ritory occupies a 
narrow strip of land 

along the Persian Gulf. It is separated from Persia on the 
east by long ranges of mountains, and from Arabia by the 
Syrian desert. 




Fig. 72. 



260 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

History. — In this region occurred many events in the dawn of history : 
here arose and fell the empires of Assyria and Babylonia ; here was 
concentrated the commerce of the Mediterranean world in the hands of 
the Phoenicians ; here occurred most of the events recorded in the Script- 
ures. Ruins alone testify to all these events of the past, and this land 
to-day, under the weak and corrupt government of the Turks, has fallen 
into decay. 

Products and Manufactures. — Coal and iron, copper, lead, 
and silver, various marbles, and a fine quality of granite, are 
found. 

Nearly every agricultural product, and almost all kinds of 
garden produce and orchard fruits are cultivated. There are 
mulberry trees and other valuable trees upon the hill slopes. 

Angora, a town in Asia Minor, is famous for its goats, 
which furnish the mohair of commerce. Wool is an important 
product. 

There are no important manufactures. The sponge fisheries 
of the Mediterranean are a source of wealth. 

Provinces. — This Asiatic Empire of the Turks is divided 
into many provinces, but a convenient division is that of 

(1) Asia Minor, a mountainous region in the northwest ; 

(2) The basin of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers on the east, 
mountainous in the north, and a region of plains on the south ; 
and (3) Syria, and the narrow strip of land along the Red 
Sea, a region of hills and mountains. 

Asia Minor. — There are evidences of volcanic action in 
every part of the peninsula of Asia Minor, and the south- 
western portion is covered with volcanic cones. Many salt 
lakes exist, surrounded by salt marshes. 

The rivers of Asia Minor are impetuous torrents during the 
rainy season, and sometimes wholly dry during the summer 
months. They carry along great quantities of alluvial soil, 
and form large deltas. 

The west and south coasts of Asia Minor are irregular 



ASIATIC TURKEY. 261 

in outline, and have high cliffs. The mountains in the north 
have forests of oak, cypress (tree of Cyprus), walnut, and 
plane trees. The interior plateau is the region of steppes, 
where herds of sheep and goats are raised. In the coast 
region are raised the products of the Mediterranean basin. 
What are they? 

Smyrna is the center of the commerce of Asia Minor. The 
carpets of Smyrna are famous. Trebizond is an important, 
strongly fortified seaport. 

The islands of the iEgean form a separate province of Asia 
Minor. One of the most fertile is Samos. 

What have you learned about the island of Cyprus ? 

The Basin of the Tigris and Euphrates. — This is chiefly a 
pastoral country. The northern part includes part of the 
region formerly known as Armenia. The chief city is Erz- 
erum, which has a great trade with neighboring countries. 

South of this region is Kurdistan. The Kurds are chiefly 
a nomadic race, skilled in the use of the javelin and sling, and 
famous horsemen. 

The southern part of this region is called Mesopotamia. 
The chief cities are Bagdad and Mosul. 

Here are the ruins of Babylon, one of the most celebrated 
cities of the world. Near Mosul are the ruins of the ancient 
city of Nineveh. 

Syria. — Syria is a tract of land extending between the 
Mediterranean on the west, and the Euphrates and the Ara- 
bian Desert on the east. 

Damascus, the capital, is the second town of Asiatic Turkey. 

It is said to be the oldest city in the world. A dilapidated wall sur- 
rounds it, and the houses within are most of them wretched. It is situ- 
ated in a fertile plain, and the Arabs call it one of their four earthly- 
paradises. It is a center of trade, and has manufacturing industries. 

Beirut is the seaport of Damascus, and between these towns 



262 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



is the only road in the country tit for carriages. Merchan- 
dise is carried across the country by caravans of mules or 
camels. 

The southern part of Syria is known to us as Palestine, or 
the Holy Land. Its surface is mountainous, and many of the 
mountains are famous for the wonderful events that have 
happened upon them. The soil is barren, though if properly 
irrigated it would be fertile. The most important river is the 
Jordan, which flows nearly its entire length in a deep valley 
below sea level. It flows into the Dead Sea, which is over 
1300 feet below sea level, the deepest lake basin on the earth. 
This lake has several tributaries, but no outlet. The water of 

this lake is so salt 
that it can sustain 
no animal life, and 
is so buoyant that 
the human body 
will not sink in 
it. Of what other 
lake does it remind 
you ? 

Jerusalem has 
now a small popu- 
lation, most of 
whom are very poor ; ■ at Easter time it is thronged with 
Christian, Mohammedan, and Jewish pilgrims. Here was 
once the Jewish temple, and here Christ was crucified. 

Region by the Red Sea. — Arabia by the Red Sea has two 
sacred cities, — Mecca and Medina. 

Mecca has a small population, but during the three or four 
months of the pilgrimage of Mohammedans it is visited by 
200,000 strangers. 

This pilgrimage to his birthplace was enjoined by Mohammed on his 
followers, and is the only source of the wealth of Mecca. 




fsr 



Damascus Gate, Jerusalem. 



ARABIA. 263 

Medina, " the Prophet's City/' contains the tomb of Moham- 
med, to which hosts of pilgrims come. 

Mocha, a seaport on the Red Sea, has large exports, chiefly 
the finest coffee. 



108. Arabia. 

Extent and Relief. — What are the limits of the peninsula of 
Arabia ? 

To what country does the belt of land along the Red Sea 
and a portion of land on the Persian Gulf belong ? The 
rest of the plateau forms the independent land of Arabia, 
about as large as that part of the United States east of the 
Mississipi River. 

About a third part of the peninsula is a desert of loose, 
reddish sand. A large part of this desert has never been 
crossed by travelers. 

The northern desert bears sometimes a small, wild plant 
called the samh, which yields food for the wandering Bedouin, 
and there are occasionally oases where he obtains fodder for 
his camels. A girdle of mountains, rising not far from the 
seashore, surrounds these deserts. On these mountains grow 
plants of the temperate zone, vines, and fruit trees. 

Rivers. — There are no permanent rivers on the peninsula, 
but there are many valleys through which mountain torrents 
run during the season of rain, and in these valleys the towns 
and villages are located. 

Products. — Several varieties of dates and aromatic plants 
like myrrh grow in the fertile regions. Camels, sheep, and 
oxen are reared, but the greatest pride of the Arabs are their 
celebrated Arabian horses. 

The southeastern region, called Oman, is the most fertile 
part of Arabia, and is rich in lead and copper. 

The pearl fisheries of the Persian Gulf employ many men, 



264 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



and on the south coast the fishermen obtain great quantities of 

fish and tortoise shell. 

Mascat. — The chief city of Arabia is Mascat, in Oman. It 

is one of the hottest cities in the world. It has an excellent 

port, and is an important shipping place. 

Aden. — Aden, a barren district in the southwest, belongs to 

the British, and has been strongly fortified by them. Why ? 

The seaport of 
Aden, called the 
Gibraltar of the 
East, has greatly 
increased in impor- 
tance since the 
opening of the Suez 
Canal. 




View of Aden. 



Historical Note. — 

As Arabia is a sterile 
tableland, its inhabi- 
tants have always been in great part nomadic, and there has been no 
settled government and bnt little history. It has been tree because 
not worth conquering, and difficult to conquer from the inaccessibility of 
its interior. 

Arabia has its chief historical importance from having been the place 
of the origin of Mohammedanism. 

Here about 620 a.d., Mohammed proclaimed himself a prophet and, 
after many struggles, became the founder of the faith of Islam, often 
called Mohammedanism. This religion spread so that now it is the faith 
of the Arabians and Turks and of many in India and northern Africa. 



109. The Plateau of Iran. 

Extent and Soil. — The name of Iran is given to the plateau 
of Asia lying between the plains of the Tigris and Euphrates 
on the west, and the plain of the Indus on the east; the 
Caspian depression and the steppes of Turkestan on the north, 



THE PLATEAU OF IRAN. 



265 










i * < S&* 



). — *s 



..BALU-\ 
^ OHISTAN 1 ^ 



-Q-^i 



l?7'-_ 



Fig. 73. 



and the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea on the south. On 
the east it is connected with the plateau of central Asia by the 
Hindukush; on the west with Asia Minor by the Armenian 
ranges. 

The plateau of Iran, is in the zone of deserts that extends 
across the Old World, — over Africa, Arabia, Iran, central 
Asia, and Mongolia. More 
than a third of the whole 
plateau consists of sand 
and deserts where oases are 
very rare. The valleys of 
the mountains are produc- 
tive, as are also the prov- 
inces on the borders of the 
Caspian, where there is a 
luxuriant growth of vegeta- 
tion. 

Products It is estimated that scarcely a fortieth part 

of the plateau is cultivated. Scarcely enough cereals are 
produced for local needs. Its fruits and its tobacco are im- 
portant sources of revenue. 

This is a country well adapted to the raising of sheep and 
goats, and this industry occupies fully half of the popula- 
tion. 

Means of Transportation The roads are everywhere in 

wretched conditions and can be used only by caravans. 
Camels and dromedaries transport goods ou the plains and 
plateaus, while mules are used on the mountains. The horses 
of Persia are less swift, but larger and handsomer than the 
Arabian horses. 

Countries. — The plateau of Iran is divided among three 
independent states, — Persia, Afghanistan, and Baluchistan. 

Persia The kingdom of Persia occupies the western part 

of the plateau of Iran. The only lowlands are narrow belts 



266 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



of land bordering the mountain ranges across its northern 
and southern boundaries. 

Most of the land is unproductive because of its dryness, 
but where it is irrigated by canals it proves fertile. There 
are over thirty salt lakes that have no outlet. The mountains 
have a rich vegetation except on the southern slope of the 

mountains in the south, where 
it is extremely hot. 

Manufactures of Persia are 
numerous and famous, but lim- 
ited in extent. Among them 
are various kinds of silk goods, 
hand-made carpets, shawls, and 
firearms. 

The sovereign or shah of 
Persia is an absolute despot. 
About a fourth of the people 
are nomadic. 

The largest city is Tabriz. 
It is an important center of 
trade. 

Over the caravan route from here to Trebizond, through 
Erzerum, passes all the merchandise from the north of Persia 
to western Europe and England, and the return traffic is also 
important. 

Teheran is the capital. 

Oppressive taxation of the laboring classes, frequent fam- 
ines, internal disorders, and the growing power of Russia and 
of Great Britain around it, have greatly weakened the power 
of the kingdom. 

Most of the Persians are Mohammedans, but a few are fire- 
worshipers. Guebres, as the fire-worshipers are called, are also 
found in Bombay and India. 




The Shah of Persia. 



CHINA. 267 

This religion was introduced by the famous Zoroaster, who lived twenty- 
five centuries ago. Eead Moore's poem called " Fire- Worshipers." 

Intelligent Guebres say that they worship fire as a symbol of God, 
but the ignorant people worship it as a god itself. Each household has 
a fire that is never allowed to go out. The dead are not buried, but are 
left for vultures and buzzards to devour. (See the Tower of Silence, 
IS T o. 0, p. 00.) 

Afghanistan. — Afghanistan is a rugged, mountainous country 
occupying the northeastern part of the plateau of Iran. It is 
thinly peopled, and most of its inhabitants are nomadic. 

The Afghans are divided into numerous tribes and are often 
at war with one another. 

The capital is Kabul, situated in a lofty fertile region. 

Baluchistan. — The southeastern portion of the plateau is 
occupied by Baluchistan, whose ruler, or khan, is a vassal of 
England. 

Afghanistan and Baluchistan are of great importance politi- 
cally because they lie between the two great modern powers 
of the continent, Great Britain in India and Russia in 
Turkestan. 

110. India and Indo-China. 

Extent and Climate. — In southeastern Asia are two penin- 
sulas, India or Hindustan, and Indo-China, which have an 
area two-thirds that of the United States, with a population 
five times as great. Through how many degrees of latitude 
does each peninsula extend ? What have you learned about 
the climate of this region? 

Relief of Hindustan. — Hindustan consists of a mountainous 
region of the Himalaya in the north ; the Great Plain of 
northern India; and a triangular plateau called the Deccan, 
which forms a peninsula on the south and is bordered by 
mountain ranges. 

Extent of British India. — British India consists of Hindustan 



268 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

and of Burma, the western part of the peninsula of Indo- 
China. 

Rivers of British India. — What have you learned about the 
rivers which enter the Bay of Bengal ? During the rainy 
season the rivers of Burma overspread so much land that 
many thousands of the natives are forced to live in barges. 

As almost all parts of India have a long, dry period follow- 
ing the rainy season, there are multitudes of canals and reser- 
voirs for irrigating the land. 

Relief and Rivers of Indo-China. — What do you know about 
the mountain ranges of Indo-China, or Farther India, as it is 
sometimes called ? By what great rivers are the broad valleys 
among them watered ? 

In their middle course these rivers are separated by high 
mountains, hence there are no great alluvial valleys like the 
plains of the Ganges and of the Yangtze, which give the riches 
of India and of China. 

Coast of Indo-China. — The coast of Indo-China is much 
broken, and has many good harbors, while there are few on 
the nearly unbroken coasts of China. 

Forests and Animals of Both Peninsulas A large part of 

both peninsulas are covered by jungles and forests which con- 
tain very valuable timber, — as the teak, bamboo, and sandal- 
wood, as well as the chestnut, maple, walnut, and oak. Here 
is also the spreading banyan, or Indian fig tree, which some- 
times covers several acres, and whose branches are the homes 
of monkeys, birds, and huge bats. Besides these there are the 
shady mango, the palmyra, the palm, and the breadfruit trees. 
Tropical fruits are, of course, abundant. 

What have you learned about the animals found in this 
region ? It is said that in India wild beasts and poisonous 
serpents kill annually 20,000 people. 



BRITISH INDIA 



269 



65 ~3\ 75 SO 

cS^': \ - 1 -.. 




111. British India. 

Agriculture. — British India is almost wholly an agricul- 
tural country. Rice and millet are the most abundant crops, 
but wheat is being raised in greater quantities every year. 
More cotton is produced than in any other country except our 
own. Opium is 
exported to China ; 
other exports are 
indigo, tobacco, oil 
seeds, flax, hemp, 
and jute. Pepper, 
tea, and coffee are 
grown. Silk is an 
important product 
of the Ganges val- 
ley. 

Manufactures. — 
Many centuries ago 
the textile manu- 
factures of India 
were very famous, 
such as gold brocades, muslins, calico, shawls, silks, and 
carpets. The manufacture of coarse cotton goods is increasing. 

Minerals and Precious Stones. — There is a great variety of 
metals and minerals in India, but only iron and salt and dia- 
monds and other precious gems are known to exist in great 
quantities. In Burma are found the finest rubies in the world. 

British Rule. — Under the British government the productiveness of 
India has been very rapidly increased by means of irrigation ; several 
thousand miles of railroads have been built, and the internal trade has 
become very great. 

Queen Victoria of England is the Empress of India, and a 
Secretary of State for India represents the British Indian 



~-$Q]|fe : Scalc-lOOO-milcs-t.rin-ch^^gl 



Fig. 74. 



270 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 




Mail Carrier and Guard, India. 



Empire in England. About half of the area of India, com- 
prising twelve provinces, is under the immediate government 

of Great Britain, while there 
are many tributary states ruled 
by native princes. 

People. — The people who 
occupy this land present every 
variety of life, from the oldest 
and highest oriental civiliza- 
tion of the Hindus (the dwel- 
lers by the Indus River), to 
almost the lowest forms of 
barbarism of the black and 
naked savages who live in huts built upon scaffolds among 
jungle-covered hills. 

Among the Hindus there are four castes or classes of society, with 
many subdivisions, and these are rigorously distinguished. 

(1) The priests, or Brahmins, who are treated with the greatest 
respect. 

(2) The military class. 

(3) The mercantile class. 

(4) The servile class, who can never improve or attain to a higher 
class. The lowest of all are the outcasts of India, called Pariahs, 
wretched and degraded. 

Cities. — The capital of British India is Calcutta. It is in 
the province of Bengal, the richest and most populous province 
of India. Calcutta is built on a branch of the Ganges delta, 
and by navigation or by railway is within easy communication 
with all the provinces, and hence has become a great center 
of trade. It is a modern city, having been built since 1700, 
and the European part has handsome buildings. 

Nearly in the middle of northern India stands Delhi, one 
of its most celebrated cities. It is a very old city, and has 
such extensive ruins of its ancient grandeur that it is fittingly 



BBITISH INDIA. 



271 



called the "Borne of India." Its "Grand Mosque" is one of 
the most magnificent structures of the country. 

Off the west coast of India is Bombay Island, whose chief 
city of Bombay is one of the largest and most important of 
southern Asia. Its 
harbor is the best 
in India. 

Madras extends 
for nine miles along 
the surf- beaten 
coast of the Gulf of 
Bengal, and is a 
flourishing maritime 
city, although its 
harbor is not a safe 
one for ships. 

Agra is celebrated 
as having the finest 
specimens of archi- 
tecture in India. 
Its greatest marvel 
is the Taj Mahal, 
a splendid mauso- 
leum of pink sand- 
stone and w h i t e 
marble, surrounded 
by a group of cy- 
press trees. It was 
built by one of the 
emperors as a tomb 
for his favorite queen and himself. Many regard this as the 
most beautiful building in the world. (See p. .) 

Benares on the Ganges, "the most holy city" of the Hin- 
dus, has hundreds of sacred buildings. The Hindus regard 




A House in India. 



272 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



the Ganges as a sacred river, and make pilgrimages to bathe 
in its waters. 

Haidarabad, the fourth city in size, is noted for its manu- 
factures of silks, cottons, silver, gold, and lacquer ware. 

Rangoon is a large trading port of Burma. 

The beautiful, fertile island of Ceylon, lying off the south- 
eastern coast of India, belongs to the British government. It 
is nearly as large as Ireland. As in Ireland, a low maritime 
belt encircles a central tableland. 

The productions of the island are varied. Its exports are 
tea, coffee, cocoanuts, and cinnamon. Several kinds of min- 
erals are found here, and its precious gems, especially sap- 
phires, are famous. Pearl fishing also is carried on. 

Other Countries of India. — Besides British India there are 
two independent native states of Nepal and Bhutan, situated 
along the slope of the Himalaya, and a few small possessions 
of France and Portugal. 



EMPIRE 



112, Indo-China. 

Divisions. — Indo-China is divided into British Provinces, 
French Provinces, and Independent States. 

British Provinces of Indo-China. — 
Besides Burma, the British possess 
the British Straits Settlements. The 
Straits Settlements consist of several 
provinces on the peninsula, and the 
islands between the Malay Peninsula 
and the island of Sumatra, on and 
near the Strait of Malacca. They 
are of importance because they are 
situated on the highway of trade be- 
Fig. 75. tween India and China. 




1000r j miles,-to inch 



IN BO-CHIN A. 



273 



The town of Singapore, on the south of the island of the 
same name, is a flourishing seaport which carries on a great 
trade. Its exports are sago, tapioca, pepper, coffee, camphor, 
and gutta-percha. 

French Provinces of Indo-China. — The French possessions in- 
clude the provinces of Tonquin, Annam, Cochin-China, and 
Cambodia. Much of the country is little known. 




The King of Siam. 




The Queen of Siam. 



Siam. — The largest of the independent states of the penin- 
sula is the central region of Siam, which includes also a 
part of the long Malay Peninsula. On the map of Asia 
this seems a small country, but its area is as great as that 
of Germany. 

From June to November, the Menam River overflows its 
banks, hence it has received the name of the " Nile of Siam." 
On this overflow depends the success of the rice crop. 



274 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



The Siamese are very idle, and what little trade there is in 
the country is in the hands of the Chinese. 

The capital of Siani and the center of its trade is Bangkok. 
This city is built twenty miles from the mouth of the Menam, 
and its bamboo houses are built upon piles. 

113. Chinese Empire. 

Position and Extent. — The Chinese Empire occupies the cen- 
tral and eastern portion of Asia, which is limited on the south, 
west, and part of the north by mountains. This area is 




Fig. 76. 

greater in extent than all Europe, and contains a population 
of 400,000,000, while Europe has only 300,000,000. What 
proportion of all the inhabitants of the earth are found in 
this empire ? What two empires are larger than China ? 

This empire is divided into the three great natural divisions 
of Mongolia, Tibet, and China Proper. 



CHINESE EMPIRE. 



275 



China China Proper extends from the Pacific Ocean for 

about a thousand miles, gradually rises in altitude till it 
reaches the high mountains of Tibet, and occupies about one- 
third of the Chinese Empire. On the north it is separated 
from the rest of the Chinese Empire by the Great Wall of 
China, built in the third century b.c. to keep out the Mongols, 
whose descendants are now the ruling family. 

This wall crosses mountains and valleys, rivers and ravines, for a dis- 
tance of 1500 miles. It is made of earth, is ten to thirty feet high and 
very broad, and has numerous towers and gates. Now it is fallen in 
many places, and has proved no barrier to the settlement of the popula- 
tion north of it. 

Rivers. — What three nearly parallel rivers flow through 
China? What have you 
learned about their inunda- 
tions ? Which is of most 
commercial importance? 
What effect do these rivers 
have upon the fertility of 
China ? 

Relief and Climate. — The 
Chinese Empire extends 
through twenty degrees of 
latitude, and its relief varies 
from the low lands along the 
seas to the mountainous re- 
gion of Tibet. 

The northern part com- 
prises the highland of the 
north and the great Chinese 
Plain of the Whangho, which supports the densest agricultu- 
ral population in the world. The summers are excessively 
hot, and the w r inters excessively cold. This region produces 
grains and vegetables. 




Chinese Village Girl. 



276 



GBAMMAB SCHOOL GEOGBAPHT. 



The central region of terraces and plains is the most produc- 
tive part of China. 

The southern plateau is almost tropical in climate and 
products. 

The rainy season lasts from April to October, and hurricanes 
from the South China Sea, called " typhoons," are frequent. 

Products. — China produces three-fourths of all the tea con- 
sumed in the world. In central China the finest teas are grown, 

although the tea- 
plant is cultivated 
in almost every 
part of China. 
This is the best 
region also for silk 
culture, and China 
produces more silk 
than any other 
country. Enor- 
mous quantities of x 
rice are produced 
in the lowlands of 
this region, and 
wheat, cotton, su- 
gar-cane, bamboo, 
and timber are im- 
portant products. 

China has much 
undeveloped min- 
eral wealth. 
In the southwestern part of China are gold fields. The 
great coal mines are little worked, but copper, silver, lead, 
iron, tin, and cinnabarare abundant, and a variety of precious 
stones, rubies, sapphires, topazes, opals, and amethysts are 
found. 




Corner of a Garden. 



CHINESE EMPIRE. 217 

Because of the variety of its vegetable products and of its 
great mineral wealth, the people of China can be independent 
of the rest of the world. 

Commerce. — The maritime trade is chiefly in tea and silk. 
The imports are manufactured goods from Europe and opium 
from India. A large overland trade is carried on with Russia. 

Manufactures. — "China ware/' or porcelain, was first made 
by the Chinese, and it was not until the beginning of the eight- 
eenth century that Europeans discovered the secret of its manu- 
facture. The Chinese invented paper-making from bamboo 
in the second century b.c. "Nankeen" calico was imported 
to Europe long before it could be made on that continent. 

The Chinese are very skilled in working metals, and they 
have bronze vases that were made 1700 years before this era. 
They still keep the composition of gong metal alloy, which 
gives forth such pleasing sounds, a secret. Before the Euro- 
peans, the Chinese had invented the compass, guns and gun- 
powder, as well as printing and paper-making and porcelain 
manufacture. 

Civilization. — Until recently the Chinese have been cut off from the 
rest of the world. The people are very proud of the antiquity of their 
nation, very faithful to national traditions, and will brook no attack 
upon their laws and customs. They are very slow to make any change 
by adopting any part of a newer civilization. What did you learn in the 
first book about the characteristics of the Chinese ? 

Language. — It is estimated that nearly one-third of the peo- 
ple of the earth speak the Chinese language. 

« 

The Hindu language and its various dialects is spoken by the next 
largest number. The English language ranks third, being now used by 
one hundred and twelve millions. Fourth is the Russian language, fifth 
the German, sixth the Spanish, and seventh the French. 

Education. — Education is eagerly sought by all, because 
without it no one can attain to official employment, rank, or 



278 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



wealth. They have no desire to know more than their ances- 
tors did, and they study the same studies in the same way, 
paying no attention to modern discoveries in sciences. 

Religion. — The most widely spread religion is that of Con- 
fucius. His temples are found in every large town, and in the 
spring and autumn sacrifices of animals, fruits, and wine are 
offered in his honor. There are many Buddhists and Moham- 
medans, and the latter class hold aloof from the pagan Chinese, 

and in their many rebellions 
they seriously threaten the im- 
perial power. About a million 
of the natives are Catholics. 

Government. — The govern- 
ment of China is an absolute 
monarchy. The Emperor is the 
high priest of the empire as 
well as the absolute sovereign. 

He belongs to the Manchoos, 
or people of Manchuria, a large 
division of China. The Man- 
choos invaded China two centu- 
ries ago, and placed their lead- 
er's son upon the throne, and their language has become the 
court and official language. 

Future. — Within a few years great changes will be wrought in China. 
Twenty-two ports are already open to foreign trade, the capital has tele- 
graphic connection with far-away inland cities, short railways have been 
constructed, and plans for great railroads will eventually be carried t. uo 

Because of the density and industry of the population, and of the 
vast natural resources of China, there is no country in the world where 
the introduction of modern means of production and transportation will 
have greater effects. 




Prince Kung of China. 



Cities. — There are about fifty towns in China that have a 
population of over 100,000. 



CHINESE EMPIRE. 279 

These towns are walled in, a mass of uniformly level, closely packed 
red-tiled houses, with eaves overlapping each other and effectually keep- 
ing out light and air. The streets are only narrow alleys. The house- 
tops are bright with pots of flowers, and there one must go for fresh air. 
This monotony is broken only by the temples, pagodas, and official resi- 
dences, or the high square towers of the pawn-broking houses. 

Peking, the capital, is built on the northern border of the 
great plain, and, unlike all other Chinese towns, except Nankin, 
it has wide, straight streets and open spaces. 

A traveler of the thirteenth century described this town, and most of 
his description is true of it at the present time. 

The old Chinese port is quite distinct from the newer Tartar or im- 
perial town. 

From Peking caravan trains start for Siberia. Its port is 
Tientsin, twenty miles away. 

Canton is one of the largest cities. It has extensive manu- 
factures, and a very great trade. 

Shanghai ranks among the first of the Chinese ports. 

Korea. — Until lately the peninsula of Korea nominally 
belonged to the Chinese Empire, and the people paid tribute. 
It is now an independent country under its own king. Its 
independence is due to the rivalry of Chinese, Japanese, and 
Russians, each country desiring to obtain control of the 
peninsula. 

Mongolia. — Mongolia is chiefly desert land. Several chiefs 
rule the people and pay tribute to the Emperor of China, who, 
however, gives them presents of greater value than the tribute. 

In the eastern part of Mongolia is the desert of Gobi. The 
western part of Mongolia is often called Eastern Turkestan. 

Tibet Tibet is the highest plateau in the world, a cold, 

rocky, barren region shut off on all sides from the rest of the 
world by snow-clad mountains. 

The lowest valleys in Tibet are at a greater elevation above 
the sea than the summit of Mount Blanc. 



280 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



Eastern Turkestan and Tibet are little known. The people 
who live on the steppes and deserts are, for the most part, 
nomadic pastoral tribes, whose wealth is in their yaks, goats, 
and sheep. They have no towns nor villages, but dwell in 

"yurts," or tents, 
which they pitch 
wherever they find 
water and pasturage 
%*? for their herds. 

On these bleak 
central deserts one 
sees only coarse 
grass or bare gravel- 
strewn ground. Vio- 
lent winds sweep 
over the country, 
carrying with them dense clouds of alkaline dust which parches 
and cracks the skin and blinds the eyes. 

The Chinese claim Tibet, but they dare not, if they would, 
interfere with the power of its chief priest. 

Islands. — The island of Hainan belongs to China. For- 
mosa has recently been ceded to Japan. 

The island of Hongkong belongs to Great Britain. Its 
capital, Victoria, has an extensive commerce and is the head- 
quarters of the British navy in this part of the world. 




A Valley in Tibet. 



114. Japan. 

Position. — The Japanese Islands lie in three curved lines 
extending from Kamchatka to Formosa. The Kurile Islands 
are the farthest north, then the four chief islands of Japan 
— Yezo, Hondo, Shikoku, and Kiushu — form the central 
curve, and southward extend the Liu Kiu group and Formosa. 
All these islands together, form the Empire of Japan. 



JAPAN. 



281 




National Flower of 
Japan. 



Relief. — These are mountainous and volcanic islands, and 
earthquakes frequently occur. The mountain ranges extend 
the length of the islands, and are too near the 
sea to admit of long rivers, but the rapid 
streams are useful for irrigation. The coast 
lines are very irregular and have excellent 
harbors. 

Climate and Products. — Hurricanes, storms, 
and fogs occur frequently in the surrounding 
seas ; in winter the polar winds are so violent 
that navigation is dangerous along the west- 
ern coasts. The warm trade winds bring 
abundant moisture, and the relatively moder- 
ate winters and moist summers give to Japan an extraordi_ 
narily rich and flourishing vegetation. 

Products. — There is here a mixture of the growths of tropi- 
cal and temperate regions. Characteristic of Japan are the 
paper mulberry, the vegetable wax tree, camphor and lacquer 
trees. 

The Japanese are excellent farmers. The cultivated crops 
are rice, corn, wheat, barley, tobacco, tea, cotton. 

Swine are reared and sent to China; silkworms and bees are 
raised everywhere, and abundance of fish are obtained in the 
seas. 

Japan is rich in minerals. Gold and silver are found, and 
more important still are coal, iron, copper, and sulphur. Por- 
celain clay is found in abundance. 

Industries. — The Japanese early attained a high develop- 
ment, and the industries of Japan are some of them very 
ancient. They include artistic bronzes, lacquered wares of all 
colors, mechanical toys, carved ivory, porcelain wares, silk 
fabrics, arms, and all sorts of paper articles. These articles 
are exported, and also raw silk, tea, and sulphur. What is 
exported from Formosa ? 



282 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAYPY. 




The Mikado of Japan. 



The greater part of the exports are sent to the United States ; 
the greater part of the imports come from England. 

Government. — Japan is a constitutional monarchy. The 

ruler is called the Mikado. His 
empire of the "Bising Sun" has 
over 40,000,000 inhabitants. 

The Ainos.— More than four- 
fifths of the population of the 
island of Yezo are barbarians 
called Ainos, who live by hunt- 
ing and fishing. They are called 
" the hairiest race in the world," 
contrasting strongly with the 
smooth-skinned Japanese. 

History. — Like the neighboring 
nation of China, Japan has a his- 
tory that dates back more than two thousand years, and it 
has only been within the last twenty-five years that her 
country has been freely opened to foreigners. 

During these last few years, though, the Japanese have been 
eager to learn and to adopt the useful inventions and improve- 
ments of European and American nations, and great changes 
have been made in their country. It has good roads, railroads, 
and telegraph lines. In 1872 the first railroad was built, a 
short line from Tokyo to Yokohama, and twenty years later 
there were nearly 2000 miles of railroad. 

Cities. — Japan has thirty-five large cities. By far the 
greatest amount of trade is carried on at Yokohama, on the 
eastern coast of the island of Hondo. 

The capital of the Empire is also its largest city, Tokyo. 
Around the city are sacred groves, temples, and gardens, which 
occupy a large area. 

Kyoto has a large population. 

Osaka has a large foreign trade, and is the fashionable resort 






MALAYSIA. 283 

of Japan, having numerous theaters, tea houses, and gardens. 
Because of its canals and bridges it is called the "Venice of 
Japan. " 

REFERENCES. 

Stanford : Compendium of Geography and Travel. 
Grindrod : Siam, a Geographical Summary. 
Rockhill : Central Asia, Mongolia and Tibet. 
Gundry : China, Past and Present. 
Chisholm : Handbook of Commercial Geograpy. 
Nineteenth Century, September, 1895. 
Cosmopolitan, May, 1895. 
Harper's Monthly, October, 1895. 
North American Review, May, 1895. 
Atlantic, February, October, 1895. 



115. Malaysia. 

Malaysia consists of the most extensive group of islands on 
the globe. It is called Malaysia, or the Malay Archipelago, 
because its native inhabitants are chiefly of the Malay race. 

Other names frequently given the group are the Indian, Asiatic, or 
Eastern Archipelago, or the East India Islands. 

These islands enclose the South China Sea, stretching in 
a wide curve from the Straits of Malacca to the Channel of 
Formosa. 

A submarine plateau connects the nearest of these islands to 
the continent of Asia, and this, as well as the animals of the 
islands, shows that they once formed part of the continent ; the 
animals of the islands farther east resemble those of Australia. 

The elephant and tapir of Borneo and Sumatra, and wild ox of Java, 
are found also in India, while on the islands near Australia are found 
marsupial or pouched animals, such as the kangaroo and opossum of 
Australia. 



284 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



The islands of Malaysia are divided into several groups. 
Philippine Islands. — The most northerly islands are known 
as the Philippine Islands. They are under Spanish authority. 
The largest island is about the size of Ohio. 

These islands have magnificent mountain scenery, with 
forests abounding in ebony, cedar, and other valuable woods. 
A great variety of fruits flourish; and rice, sugar, tobacco, 
hemp, cocoa, and coffee are cultivated. Birds of brilliant 
plumage and many reptiles have their home here. 

The capital is Manila, on the west coast of the largest island. 
Sunda Islands. — The Sunda Islands lie south of the Philip- 
pine Islands. The largest Sunda Islands are Sumatra and 
Java. The smaller islands eastward from Java are grouped 
as the Lesser Sunda Islands. These islands belong to The 
Netherlands. 

Their position in the midst of very warm seas, the diversity 

of their relief, and especially the 
altitude of their mountains, which 
bring an abundance of rain, have 
produced a luxurious vegetation. 
In many of the plains of Java, 
Sumatra, and Borneo there is not 
more than one degree of differ- 
ence between the mean tempera- 
ture of the hottest month and 
that of the coldest. 

Java, a narrow island over 600 
miles long, is the fourth island in 
size, but the most fertile in pro- 
duction: it is the most populous 
tropical island on the globe. 
A mountain chain extends 
throughout its length that has forty -five volcanic cones, many 
being active. 




A Native Woman of Java. 



BEVIEW QUESTIONS. 



285 



Kice, corn, indigo, sugar-cane, tobacco, cloves, pepper, vanilla, 
coffee, and tea are its chief productions. Brazil is the only 
country that produces more coffee, Cnba is the only country 
that produces more sugar, than Java. 

The native Javanese are a quiet, industrious people. There 
are many Chinese, Hindus, and Arabs on the island. 

The capital of Java and of all the Dutch East Indies is 
Batavia, a great sea- 
port and trading 
place. 

Sumatra is over a 
thousand miles in 
its largest extent. 
Its chief exports 
are black pepper, 
rice, and camphor. 
It belongs to the 
Dutch, but much of 
the interior is still unexplored and therefore independent. 

Borneo, next to New Guinea, is the largest island of the 
world. Its interior, like that of Sumatra, is little known. 
The greater part of the island belongs to the Dutch, but the 
British hold the northern part. 

Celebes and the Spice Islands export many spices. 




Sumatra Houses. 



REVIEW QUESTIONS. 

In what part of Asia is Turkey ? What are the mineral products ? 
The agricultural ? 

Describe the relief of Asia Minor. What countries of Europe most 
closely resemble Asia Minor in relief, climate, and products ? 

What can you say of Smyrna ? What of Bagdad ? What of Damas- 
cus ? Where is Palestine ? For what is it noted ? Describe its relief. 
What do you know about the Jordan ? The Dead Sea ? Jerusalem ? 

How is the peninsula of Arabia bounded ? Describe its surface. Why 
has it no large rivers ? 



286 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

What fisheries in the Persian Gulf ? Where is the plateau of Iran ? 
What nations occupy it ? What part of it is productive ? What are the 
domestic animals ? Where is Persia ? What are its manufactures ? 
Name the chief cities on the caravan route from Persia and India to 
Europe. 

Where is India? Where is Indo-China? How does Indo-China get 
its name ? How do these two countries together compare with the 
United States in size ? In population ? How do we reach India ? 

What are the rivers of Hindustan ? Why is India a land of canals ? 
Where is Burma ? What valuable timbers are found in India ? What 
are the agricultural products ? What are the manufactures ? What is 
said of Calcutta ? Bombay? Madras? Agra? Benares? Rangoon? 
Ceylon ? 

Where are the Straits Settlements ? Where is Singapore ? Why is 
this an important place ? 

What can you tell about Siam ? 

Where is China ? What are its natural limits ? How does it com- 
pare in area and population with Europe ? What are its three divisions ? 
Describe the Great Wall. Name the three great rivers. Describe the 
relief of China. Describe the climate. What are the products of cen- 
tral China ? What minerals are found ? What are the leading manu- 
factures ? What is said about education ? Religion ? Government ? 
Describe in a general way the cities. Describe Peking. What is said 
of Korea ? Mongolia ? Tibet ? 

Where is Japan ? What is the relief of these islands ? What is true 
of the climate ? What are the mineral products ? The vegetable ? The 
animal ? What are the manufactures ? What is the capital ? What 
city has most commerce ? 

Of what does Malay^a consist? What is said of the Philippine 
Islands ? Where are the Sunda Islands ? To what nation do they 
belong ? What is said of their climate ?. Of their vegetation ? What 
can you say of Java ? What of Sumatra ? Of Borneo ? 

Name and locate the Holy City of the Jews. Of the Mohammedans- 
Of the Persians. Of the Hindoos. 

Compare Salt Lake City and Damascus. Compare the islands of Yezo 
and Newfoundland. Compare Siberia and Canada. 



AFRICA. 



Location. — Where is Africa? How is it connected with 
Asia ? How separated from Europe ? What are the parallels 
which bound it ? What the meridians which bound it ? What 
part of Africa has the same lati- 
tude as a part of the United 
States ? 

In what zones does it lie ? 
What temperature belts cross it ? 
What part of it is desert ? 

What oceans border Africa? 
What two long seas ? What 
large island on the east ? What 
channel between this island and 
Africa ? 

Size. — What continent is larger 
than Africa? Its area is about 
three times that of Europe, and four times that of the United 
States. 

Its longest distance by a meridian is nearly one-fifth around 
the globe ; its longest line by a parallel is not much less. 

The tropical part of the continent is greater than the com- 
bined areas of Europe, United States, Mexico, and Central 
America. 

How much larger Africa is than the United States is shown 

by this figure. 

287 




Fig. 45. 



288 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

Islands. — Madagascar is the third island in size of the 
islands of the world. Its area is about that of Texas. It is 
traversed by mountains with slopes and high valleys which 
have a temperate, as well as torrid, climate and productions. 
Politically it is a kingdom, under the influence and protection 
of France. The natives have some of the characteristics of the 
Malay race. 

Mauritius (British) and Reunion (French) are about 600 
miles east of Madagascar. Sugar-cane plantations are exten- 
sive upon both islands. 

To the northwest of Africa lie three groups of small islands. 
They appear as mountain tops, and among them are several 
active volcanoes. The Azores (Portuguese) are most impor- 
tant. They export oranges and pineapples. The Madeira 
group (Portuguese) exports wine and fruit. The Canaries 
(Spanish) export great quantities of early vegetables for Lon- 
don and other markets. St. Thomas (Portuguese), just north 
of the equator, has valuable plantations of the cinchona tree, 
coffee, cacao, and other products of the tropics. 

Relief. — Africa is the most compact and unbroken of the 
grand divisions. The southern half consists of an immense 
plateau from 3000 to 5000 feet high, a sort of elevated for- 
tress whose walls are formed by chains of mountains that leave 
but a small space between themselves and the sea. Nearly all 
the coast region is Ioav at the seaside, but rises rapidly in ter- 
races to the general height. In the Sahara the altitude falls 
to 2000 feet or less, and, in a few spots, to below the sea 
evel. 

The only real mountain range in Africa is the Atlas, in the 
north. These mountains are great moisture catchers, making 
the region which they cross fertile and valuable. 

The greatest mountain mass of the continent is the Abyssin- 
ian. Some of the highest peaks are always snow-capped. 
These mountains receive and deposit the moisture from the 



AFBICA. 289 

monsoons. This mountain mass rapidly descends in terraces, 
and each is adapted to special products and industries. 

In the lake region near the equator are found the highest 
mountains of Africa, Kilimanjaro and Kenia, rising nearly 
20,000 feet. Farther south the mountains rising from the 
plateau are much lower, but gather moisture for the great 
lakes which they feed. The Kamerun Mountains are an 
irregular mass, near the coast at the Bight of Biafra. 

There are detached masses and low broken ranges elsewhere, but none 
of much importance. Such great ranges as the Andes and the Rockies 
of America, or the Himalayas, the Alps, the Pyrenees, of the Old World 
are nowhere found in Africa. 

Deserts. — There are no such plains in Africa as the prairies 
of the United States, or the pampas of South America. The 
deserts occupy fully one-third of the area of Africa. 

The Sahara is the general name given to the desert belt 
which stretches from the Nile valley to the Atlantic Ocean. 

The Kalahari Desert is in southern Africa. 

Lakes and Rivers. — The principal rain belt of Africa lies 
within the tropics. There all the great lakes are found and 
all the great rivers have their sources. The lake system is 
second only to that of North America. Lake Victoria Ny- 
anza, the source of the Nile, is but little smaller than Lake 
Superior. Lakes Tanganyika and Bangweolo are the great 
feeders for the Kongo River, which has a greater volume of 
water than any other African river. Lake Chad, in north- 
central Sudan, is a marshy lake about the size of Lake Erie. 
Lake Assal is a small body of extremely salt water. This was 
once the head of the Gulf of Aden, but now it is 400 feet below 
sea level. It is valuable for its salt deposits. Of what lake 
does this remind you ? 

The Niger is a river 3000 miles long, and the best in 
Africa for navigation. It traverses a fertile country of much 



290 GBAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHF. 

promise. The Orange River of Cape Colony is as long as the 
Mle, but is scarcely navigable even for small boats. All the 
rivers of Africa are interrupted in their navigation by falls 
and rapids in their descent from the tablelands to the coast. 

Climate. — North of the Sahara, Africa is much like south- 
ern Europe in climate. The Sahara has a severe climate, — 
hot in the daytime, cold at night. 

Equatorial Africa, except on the coast, has a sub-tropical 
climate on account of the elevation. The climate is mild 
and equable. 

South Africa has a warm, temperate climate, generally 
dry. 

Products. — The products of Africa at present exported are 
very limited, — both in kinds and quantity. 

Numerous ore deposits have been discovered, but few are 
worked. 

Copper, iron, and lead are exports from Algeria. 

Coal is mined at several points in southeast Africa. 

Copper ore and gold ore are important products from Cape 
Colony. Gold has been obtained from the Gold Coast for 
300 years, but the deadly climate there prevents much 
working. 

The leading diamond district of the world has Kimberly 
for its center, in southeast Africa. Egypt has marble, lime- 
stones, and emeralds and rubies. Madagascar is rich in useful 
ores, and gold is found in Mauritius. 

The heart of Africa is subject to a system of rains extraordi- 
narily abundant which come to it from the surrounding oceans ; 
hence the vegetation has a varied character. 

All equatorial Africa is an immense forest. Here are found 
the varieties of palms, ferns, gigantic reeds, baobabs, and lianes 
stretching from one tree to another in an inextricable network. 

The vegetable products are important in view of what they 
may become under skilled cultivation. At present, the exports 



AFRICA. 



291 



are mainly as follows : from Egypt, cotton, beans, and sugar; 
from Algeria and Tunis, alfalfa grass (for paper stock) and 
cork from the cork-oak forests ; from the desert oases and the 
region south of the Atlas Mountains, dates in great quantities ; 
from central Africa, palm oil, palm seeds, gum copal, india 
rubber, ebony; from eastern Africa, gums, including india 
rubber, myrrh, gum arabic, gum copal, and aloes ; from Cape 
Colony, wine, grapes, and cereal grains. 

The list of grains, fruits, seeds, and various food plants, 
which are raised for home consumption, covers the most im- 
portant kinds of temperate and tropical climates. 

People. — The people of Africa belong chiefly to the white 
and the black races. There are three distinct branches of the 
white race. The Berbers inhabit the Atlas Mountain region 
and the oases of the Sahara. They have permanent homes 
and build cities. The Arabs conquered the Berbers several 
hundred years ago, and now rule 
them. They occupy the Nile 
valley and most of the Mediter- 
ranean coast. Many of the Arabs 
are nomadic. They despise the 
dwellers of towns and often ex- 
act tribute from them. 

The European whites live 
chiefly in South Africa ; a few 
are scattered in lands now com- 
ing under European control. 
There are not a million alto- 
gether. 

The Ethiopian or Negro race occupies most of the territory 
to the south of the Sahara. Those of the Sudan region are 
stronger, more intelligent and industrious, than the tribes 
farther south. In the south interior are tribes of the lowest 
of human beings. Some are dwarfs and inhabit the dark 




Queen of the Pigmies. 



292 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

forests; some dwell in caves and hollows, and subsist upon 
roots and uncooked game. The gorilla seems but little lower 
in intelligence or habits than the lowest of these savages. 

Travel. — The means of travel through the most of Africa are 
generally very defective, in most parts dangerous for foreigners. 
Morocco has no roads other than beaten camel tracks. Algeria 
is well supplied with carriage roads and railroads. Egypt has 
the great Nile waterway, and more than 1200 miles of railroad. 
The possessions in east and south Africa have many good car- 
riage roads, and long lines of railroad, made and in progress. 
Some roads are projected into the Sudan and west Africa. 
But vast areas of the continent are crossed only by camel 
paths, and still narrower tracks for human porters, the latter 
often driven as slaves by Arab traders, with burdens of ivory 
and other products of the interior. The deserts are crossed 
only by caravans of camels. 

Religion. — Mohammedanism is the religion of the Arabs. 
They will fight for it desperately, and are very bitter toward 
Christians. The Negroes are mostly pagans. 

Countries, Colonies, and Spheres of Influence. — Africa, south of 
the Mediterranean states, became known to the nations of 
Europe about the time of the discovery of America. It 
has yet scarcely a million of white inhabitants. Until a few 
years ago, European nations utterly neglected Africa ; now 
the " Great Powers " are striving for the largest share. 

Some of the causes which operate against settlement and 
the advance of commerce are : The limited areas which are 
under strong government; the climate, deadly to whites, 
throughout the fertile hot regions ; the lack of sufficient rain 
for cultivated crops over vast regions ; the practice of slave 
porterage and slave trade, still carried on by Arab traders ; 
the very defective means of communication now existing, or 
even possible, in most sections, without enormous expense. 

There are but few divisions of Africa which have well-defined 



BARBARY STATES. 



293 




King of Abyssinia. 



limits. Northern, southern, eastern, western, and central Africa 

have reference to indefinite regions indicated by their names. 

Sudan is not a country, but is the name given to an unde- 
fined region extending west from 

Abyssinia to near the Atlantic 

Ocean. Guinea is not a political 

division, but the name signifies 

an unbounded region extending 

inland from the Gulf of Guinea. 
There are vast tracts of Africa 

which the countries of Europe 

have recently divided among 

themselves, covering their claims 

by such names as : Protectorates, 

Claims, Free States, and Spheres 

of Influence (the political map 

shows their supposed limits). 

Great Britain claims the most valuable regions, Germany those 

next in value, then France, Por- 
tugal, Belgium, Italy. 

116- Barbary States. 

The Barbary States occupy 
the Atlas Mountain region bor- 
dering the Mediterranean Sea. 
They include the Empire of Mo- 
rocco ; the French Protectorate, 
Algeria and Tunis ; and the Turk- 
ish dependency, Tripoli. 

Morocco. — The government of 

Morocco is an absolute mon- 

•^c.-r-"""'-^' archy, one of the most fanatical 

Sultan of Morocco. in the world. All Christian peo- 




294 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 




A Jewess of Algiers. 



pie are held iri disdain. Rich in natural resources, with an 

estimated population of 9,000,000, almost joined to Europe, it 

has nevertheless no railroads, no 
wheeled carts, no canals. Ani- 
mals, chiefly camels, are the only 
carriers. The commerce is very 
limited. 

The Sultan holds court alter- 
nately at three cities, — Morocco, 
Fez, and Mequinez. The chief 
port is Tangier, near the entrance 
to the Strait of Gibraltar. 

Algeria and Tunis. — Algeria and 
Tunis, under the French, are mak- 
ing much progress. There are 
many thousand miles of excelent 

carriage roads, and other commercial facilities. Yet only five 

per cent of the inhabitants 

of Algeria are Europeans, and 

of Tunis even less. The city of 

Algiers has a fine situation no 

a bay of the Mediterranean. 

The walled city of Tunis is the 

largest city of the Barbary 

States. 

Tripoli. — Tripoli is chiefly 

desert, occupying the area be- 
tween Egypt and Tunis. Not 

more than one tenth of the land 

can be cultivated. The popula- 
tion consists of Arabs, Berbers, 

and several thousands of slaves 

from the Sudan. The city of 




Young Negress of Tunis. 



Tripoli is the center of a caravan trade across the desert. 



EGYPT. 



295 



117. Egypt. 

Egypt is the most interesting division of Africa. Here 
arose the oldest civilization of which we know, and long 
before the Christian era it was a great nation. Its stone ruins, 
in the form of pyramids and temples, are the most wonderful 
and stupendous that exist. 

Egypt is traversed by the strangest river in the world. 
From its headwaters this river nearly follows a meridian line, 
from 12 degrees south latitude to 32 degrees north. It feeds, 
by the fertilizing 
soil which it brings 
from 3000 miles 
away, more than 
eight millions of 
people. It makes 
a garden in the 
midst of a vast 
desert, for only in 
its valley can the 
land of Egypt be 
cultivated. Until 
1859 its headwaters were a mystery. The lone missionary and 
explorer, Dr. Livingstone, found its source, and later discov- 
erers have mapped the region quite clearly. For seventy days, 
from about June 26, the Nile is rising ; for an equal time the 
valley is a lake ; then come the seed time and the green ribbon 
of growing cotton, corn, wheat, beans, and other crops. In 
Lower Egypt, artificial irrigation from the Nile keeps crops 
growing the year round ; in Upper Egypt, nothing grows for 
half the year. 

Egypt is now nominally a Turkish province, with a govern- 
ment of its own, but controlled by Great Britain. 

Cairo, the capital of Egypt, is the largest city in all Africa. 




Entrance to the Citadel, Cairo. 



296 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



Its narrow and crooked streets are thronged with, people of all 
nations. It is connected by railways with, the great seaport 
of Egypt, Alexandria. Another railway connects it with the 
ancient city of Suez where the canal enters the Gulf. At the 
Mediterranean entrance of the canal is the modern built town 
of Port Said. 

Suez Canal. — One of the most extensively used ship high- 
ways of the world is formed by the Strait of Gibraltar and 

the Mediterranean Sea, on the 
north ; the Suez Ship Canal, 
the Red Sea, the Strait of 
Babel Mandeb, and the Gulf 
of Aden, on the northeast of 
Africa. 




The Suez Canal is 87 miles long, 
— 66 miles canal, and 21 miles lake, 
and of width and depth to give pas- 
sage to the largest vessels. About 
4000 vessels pass through the canal 
yearly. Although most of the ships 
carry freight, more than 187,000 
passengers pass through the canal 
in a year. 
It is controlled by the English and the French. 



Khedive of Egypt. 



Historical Note. — How far back in time there was a civilized people 
living in the valley of the Mle we cannot definitely tell, but we know 
that as early as the twenty-fifth century b.c. the Great Pyramids were 
built. 

Egypt remained an independent country till conquered by the Per- 
sians in the sixth century b.c. Later it was made a part of the empire 
of Alexander the Great, who founded Alexandria, a city which grew 
rapidly and became for a time the center of the world's commerce. 
Egypt shared the fate of other Greek provinces in the first century b.c 
and passed under Roman rule. After six centuries had elapsed the 
Arabs invaded Egypt. During the rise and fall, one after another, of 
the extensive kingdoms of the Babylonians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Per- 



SOUTHERN AND WESTERN AFRICA. 297 

sians, Greeks, and Romans most of the tribes of Arabia had maintained 
their independence. Explain how they had been enabled to do this 
because of the character of their country and their own mode of life. 

After they became followers of Mohammed they started forth to ex- 
tend their faith to other nations. By 800 how far did their rule extend ? 

The Arabs in Egypt were succeeded by the Turks, so that Egypt has 
continued under Mohammedan rule till the present time. Since 1883 it 
has practically been under British control although the Khedive — the 
ruler of Egypt — is a Turk. 



118. Southern Africa. 

Kongo Free State. — The Kongo Free State, in the northern 
part of southern Africa, is one of the most delightful in cli- 
mate and fertile in soil of all the regions of the earth. By an 
arrangement made among the European powers, it is to remain 
an independent territory till 1900, when it will come into the 
control of Belgium. 

Cape Colony. — Of the British areas, Cape Colony is the most 
important, and its commerce ranks next to that of Egypt. 
The largest city of the Colony, Cape Town, resembles a Euro- 
pean city. Several other divisions of south and southeast 
Africa are in different degrees under British control. 

119. Western Africa. 

Portugal, Germany, and France, as well as Great Britain, 
have control of extensive areas bordering the western coast, 
and most of the Sudan region is apportioned among European 
powers. 

Important towns are Timbuktu, on the Niger, a great center 
for the traffic across the desert, and Monrovia, the capital of 
the Negro Republic of Liberia on the western coast of Africa. 
This republic was formed by the people in the United States 
as a home for freed slaves. 



298 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



REVIEW QUESTIONS. 

Draw from memory a simple outline of Africa, and across this outline 
draw the equator in proper position. Draw also the first meridian. 

What mountain range in the north ? What highlands in the east ? 
What is the general relief of the continent ? 

What two famous deserts ? Where is the great rain belt ? 

Name five lakes and give an account of each. Name three great rivers. 

Compare the Kongo with the Mississippi. How does the Nile differ 
from every other large river ? Why is there very little rain in Egypt ? 

Which is warmer, northern or central Africa ? What reason can you 
give for the extreme unheal thfulness of the western coast of Africa? 
What is the climate of south Africa ? 

What are the important minerals of Africa ? Where is each found ? 

What are the vegetable products ? What valuable vegetable products 
will probably be grown in Africa when the continent is well controlled 
by Europeans ? 

What two races of people in Africa ? Where are the branches of the 
White race ? What part is occupied mainly by the Black race ? 

What is the religion of the Arabs in Africa ? Of the Negroes ? 

Where are the Barbary States? What countries are included under 
this name? What is said of Morocco? Of Algeria and Tunis? Of 
Tripoli ? For what two things is Egypt chiefly remarkable ? 

Where is the Kongo Free State? What is its soil and climate? 

Where is Liberia? What is there to be noted about this country? 

What are the means of travel in Africa? 

Compare Africa with the other continents. What are the hindrances 
to its settlement by Europeans? 

REFERENCES. 

Stanford : Compendium of Geography and Travel. 

Vincent : Actual Africa ; or, The Coming Continent. 

Keltie : Applied Geography. 

Chisholm : Handbook of Commercial Geography. 

Stanley: The Congo. 

White : The Development of Africa. 

National Geographical Journal, March, November, 1895. 

Nature, May, 1894. 

North American Review, July, 1895. 



AUSTRALIA. 




Fig. 46, 



Position and Size. — Australia lies south- 
east of Asia, between the Pacific and In- 
dian oceans. It is nearly equal in area 
to the United States, without Alaska. 
How many square miles ? 

Australia and Africa compared. — Look 
at the sketch of Australia and of northern Africa. 

What do you notice 
about their contours ? 

What have you learned 
about northern Africa as 
regards its situation, its 
desert, the effect of its 
winds ? 

These facts are true of 
Australia also. 

Barrier Reef. — At an 
average distance of thirty 
miles from the north- 
eastern coast extends for 
1200 miles the Great 
Barrier Reef, the longest 
coral belt in the world. 
On one side hugh break- 
ers from the Pacific dash against this coral wall, while on the 
side towards Australia there is a smooth, untroubled sea. It 
has a few openings through which ships can pass. 

299 




Fig. 59. 



300 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

Relief. — The surface of Australia consists of great plains 
and plateaus. A mountainous belt skirts the eastern and 
southeastern coast. It is called the dividing range, for it 
separates the low coast valleys from the interior plain. In 
the southeast it attains its greatest height in a chain called 
the Australian Alps. The highest peak is Mount Kosciusko. 
Along the western coast there is a range of hills, and near 
the center of the southern border is another hill range. The 
center of the continent is little known. 

Rivers. — The rivers of Australia are most of them short 
and of little use, because they vary so in volume, at times 
overflowing and at other seasons reduced to a succession of 
shallow pools. For 1500 miles along the southern coast there 
is not even a small stream. The only large and important 
river is the Murray. This river equals in length the Ganges 
or the Danube, but it passes through so dry a plain after 
leaving the western slope of the mountain region in the east, 
that its volume is only equal to that of the Seine. One of 
its tributaries, the Darling, is also a large river. 

Lakes. — Australia has many lakes, but most of them are 
salt ; and, like the rivers, they vary greatly in size in different 
seasons. Lake Torrens, in South Australia, is the largest. 

Climate. — The Tropic of Capricorn crosses the continent, 
so that the northern part lies within the torrid zone, and the 
southern within the south temperate region. The rain supply 
is very irregular. Christmas comes during what season in 
Australia ? From what direction do the cold winds blow ? 
Where does the sun seem to rise ? 

Plants and Animals — The plant life of Australia is peculiar. 
More than half of the species of plants there is exclusively 
Australian. The most common trees are evergreens, that give 
no shade, like the eucalyptus or gum trees, the acacia, that 
has very small leaves, and other trees that have no leaves at 
all. Cedar trees, mahogany, and pines grow also. The trees 



AUSTRALIA. 301 

do not generally grow in dense forests, but in scattered clumps. 
Some of them grow to a height of 420 feet. The steppes of 
the interior, when not bare and saline, have almost impenetra- 
ble thickets of scrub. 

What do you know about the animal life of Australia ? 

Sheep were first introduced by Europeans, and they have 
prospered till now Australia is one of the chief wool-producing 
regions of the world. 

Minerals. — The minerals of gold, coal, iron, copper, tin, 
lead, and zinc are very abundant. It was the discovery of 
gold here that brought over so many European colonists, and 
to them is due the present prosperity of the continent, for 
they not only worked the gold and coal mines, but they turned 
to the raising of sheep, and this industry is the true wealth 
of the land. To-day Australia is much farther advanced than 
the ancient civilizations of China and India, countries far richer 
in natural resources than Australia. 

People. — The natives of Australia are Oceanic Negroes, the 
very lowest type of the human race. These natives, who 
have their abodes in holes in the ground and live on roots 
and fish, are rapidly decreasing in number. They will soon 
disappear like the Indians on our own continent before the 
incoming of European colonists. 

History. — Australia was discovered by the English, and for 
a century and a half they used it as a place to which they 
transported their convicts, just as Russia sent hers to Siberia. 
In the middle of this century this practice was abandoned, 
and free colonists, who had been coming for thirty years, 
rapidly increased in numbers. Now there are more than 
three million people in Australia, most of them English, 
Scotch, or Irish. Chinese were brought there to work the 
mines, and now they number 50,000. 

The Australians, proud of the rapid growth of their colo- 
nies, hope that some day all the British possessions in the 



302 GBAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

Pacific — Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea and all the 
archipelagoes of islands — will be united under one confed- 
eration. 

Divisions. — Australia is divided into the five colonies of 
New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, and 
Western Australia ; the island of Tasmania off the southeast 
coast forms a sixth colony. The governor of each colony is 
appointed by the English government, while the other execu- 
tive officers are nominated by the people in certain of the 
colonies, and by the English government in others. 

The two colonies of New South Wales and Victoria in the 
southeast are the most important, the most populous, and 
the richest in natural resources. 

New South Wales. — New South Wales is the oldest colony 
of Australia and the most progressive. It has immense 
sheep-farms, or "runs," as they are called. 

The cultivation of the vine is becoming one of the leading 
industries, and gardens and orchards produce abundance of 
fruit. The forests yield valuable woods. There are rich gold 
fields, coal mines, and diamond regions. 

Sydney, its capital, is a large city. It is a fine English town, 
in no way different from the busy and prosperous cities of 
England. It is connected with the interior by several rail- 
roads, and carries on a commerce with all parts of the world. 

Victoria. — Victoria is the smallest colony of the continent, 
but it is relatively the most populous. Its natural resources 
and productions are like those of New South Wales. Its cli- 
mate is the most enjoyable of Australia. 

Melbourne, its capital, is the largest city in Australia, and 
the chief seaport of the world south of the equator. It has 
broad, straight streets lined with fine buildings. Extensive 
manufactures are carried on. 

Queensland. — Queensland occupies the northeastern corner 
of the continent. It has extensive gold fields, fertile agricul- 



AUSTRALIA, 



303 



tural land, and vast herds of cattle, sheep, and horses. Bris- 
bane, its capital, has an extensive trade. 

South Australia. — South Australia has a misleading name 
It should rather have been called Central Australia, for it in- 
cludes all the central section of the continent. Much of this 
region is an unexplored desert, but there are pasture lands, 
and the plains are the chief wheat-growing region of Australia. 
It has also large copper mines. 

Adelaide, its capital. Seven miles away is Port Adelaide, 
on the fine harbor of the Gulf of St. Vincent. 

Western Australia. —Western Australia is the largest of the 
Australian colonies and also the most thinly peopled. About 
one-third of its soil is a desert, and 
only the maritime districts are well 
known. Valuable metals are found 
here, and the pearl fishery is of im- 
portance. The forests have valuable 
woods, and sheep raising is carried on. 

Perth, on the Swan River, is the 
capital. 

Tasmania. — Tasmania, an island 
only one-fifth smaller than Ireland, 
is situated a day's journey from Vic- 
toria. Its surface is mountainous, 
and part of it is a dense forest. It is the favorite summer 
resort of the people of Victoria. 

The people of Tasmania are employed in agriculture, in rear- 
ing sheep and cattle, in mining, and in the South Sea whale 
fisheries. 

Hobart is its capital, in the southwest. 




A Native of Tasmania. 



ISLANDS OF THE PACIFIC 




120. New Zealand. 

New Zealand, lying out in the Pacific Ocean, 1200 miles 
southeast from Australia, is another British possession. It 
consists of two large islands, — North Island and South 

Island, separated by Cook Strait, 
and of several small islands. The 
area of the group is almost equal to 
that of the British Isles. 

The coasts of New Zealand have 
many inlets and excellent harbors. 
A mountain chain extends through- 
out the length of the two islands, 
culminating on South Island in Mount 
J?vP^I Cook, which is almost as high as 

/? * Mont Blanc. There are dense forests 

Kin£ of the Maoris. Qf lofty pineg and other evergreen 

trees and tree ferns. There are good pasture lands and abun- 
dant minerals. 

Both islands have many rivers and lakes. There are many 
volcanoes, and the hot lakes, boiling springs, and geysers far 
surpass those of Iceland in size. 

The natives of New Zealand are Maoris, a race very strong, 
intelligent, and brave ; they form only one-sixteenth of the 
present population. 

The capital of New Zealand is Wellington, on North Island. 
It has a fine harbor. 

304 



MELANESIA 



305 



Auckland, on North Island, and Dunedin, on South Island, 
are important cities. 

121. Melanesia. 

The Pacific has a vast number of islands. Name the islands 
which you have already studied in connection with the con- 
tinents of Asia and Australia. 

The other islands of the Pacific may be conveniently 
grouped into those of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. 

Melanesia includes the largest 
of the islands, New Guinea, 
Bismarck Archipelago, Solomon 
Islands, New Hebrides, New 
Caledonia, Loyalty Islands, the 
Fiji Islands, and others. 

Several of these islands are of 
volcanic origin, and many are 
surrounded by coral reefs. All 
have a very warm climate and 
abundant moisture, and, there- 
fore, a luxuriant vegetation. 

The food plants are the cocoa- 
palm, breadfruit, tea, yam, sweet potato, and sugar-cane. 

Mammals are scarce, but there is a great variety of birds of 
gorgeous plumage. New Guinea and adjoining islands have 
the beautiful birds of paradise. 

Some of the natives are cannibals. 

New Guinea is the largest island of the world. It is sepa- 
rated from Australia by a shallow strait, while the waters sur- 
rounding it elsewhere are twenty times as deep. What does 
this tell you about the origin of the vegetation and animals of 
the island ? 

It is traversed by a lofty mountain range, has dense forests, 
and fertile soil. The island is shared by three nations. The 




A Fiji Island Chief. 



306 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



Netherlands claim the western part, Germany a part of the 
north coast, now called Kaiser Wilhelm's Land, and England 
holds the rest. 

The Admiralty Islands (called also Bismarck Archipelago) 
and part of the Solomon Islands belong to the German nation, 
or are under their protection. New Caledonia and Loyalty 
islands are French possessions, while the New Hebrides and 
the Fiji Islands belong to the English. 






122. Micronesia. 

Micronesia includes the small islands north of the equator 
between 130 and 180 degrees east longitude. Some of these 

are of volcanic origin, 
most of them surrounded 
by barrier reefs of coral, 
while many of the islands 
are atolls. 

The Marshall Islands 
belong to Germany, the 
Gilbert Islands to Great 
Britain, and the Caroline 
Islands and the Marianne 
or Ladrone Islands to 
Spain. 



123, 



Polynesia. 

Polynesia includes the 

^ 4^ ^ J remaining islands of the 

King of Samoa. Pacific, eastward from 

those of Melanesia and Micronesia. Like those of Micronesia, 

some are lofty, volcanic islands, and others low coral islands. 

The Society Islands, of which Tahiti is the largest, belong 
to France. 




MICRONESIA 



307 



The Tonga or Friendly Islands, the Samoan Islands, and 
the Hawaiian Islands are independent. 

Hawaiian Islands. — The Hawaiian Islands are the most 
important islands in this gronp. 

They are about 2000 miles 
sonthwest of San Francisco. 
What is their latitude ? Their 
longitude ? 

These islands are far away 
from any others, and are im- 
portant as coaling stations for 
ships crossing the Pacific. 

They rise from great depths 
and reach 14,000 feet above sea 
level. The two largest volcanic 
craters in the world are on the is- 
land of Hawaii, the chief island 
from which the gronp is named. 

The climate is pleasant and 
healthful, and the soil is fertile. 

The natives are of the brown race. They have a republican 
form of government, fashioned on that of the United States. 

The products of these islands can be readily named by con- 
sidering their climate. Eaw sugar is the chief export. 

Honolulu, on the island of Oahu, is the capital. It is a city 
of about 20,000 inhabitants, has fine churches, and good schools. 
Its commerce is chiefly with England and the United States. 




Waipo Falls, Hawaii. 



REVIEW QUESTIONS. 

What grand divisions would be reached by sailing east from the south- 
ern point of Australia ? By sailing west ? 

How large is Australia? What other part of the world is it most 
like ? AVhat is the Great Barrier Reef ? 

Describe the relief of Australia. Compare the river systems of Aus- 
tralia with those of South America. Describe the climate of Australia. 



308 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGBAPHY. 

For what are the forests remarkable ? What can you tell about the 
chief industry of Australia ? 

Why is Australia most thickly settled in the southeastern part ? 

What are the abundant minerals ? 

Describe the natives. What is the population of Australia ? Describe 
New South Wales. Sydney. Victoria. Melbourne. 

How does New Zealand compare in size with the British Isles ? What 
is its relief ? 

What is included in Melanesia ? How are these islands formed ? 
What is their climate ? What are their food plants ? 

What do you know about New Guinea ? 

What does Micronesia include ? What are atolls ? 

What does Polynesia include ? 

Describe the Hawaiian Islands. 

REFERENCES. 

Dana : Corals and Coral Islands. 

Chisholm : Handbook of Commercial Geography. 

Chautauquan, November, 1894. 

Popular Science Monthly, April, 1893. 

Review of Reviews, May, 1894. 



COMPARISON OF THE CONTINENTS. 



Position. — The six continents may be taken in three pairs, 
ranged nearly north and south. 

The two Americas make one pair; Europe and Africa 
make the second pair ; and Asia and Australia the third pair. 

In the first pair the two parts are nearly severed by the 
Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico ; in the second pair the 
two parts are entirely severed by the Mediterranean Sea ; in 
the third pair the two parts are not only severed but separated 
by the waters of the Indian Ocean, though still united by the 
chain of islands known as the East Indies. 

Each pair has a broad, low plain at the north, and a narrow, 
high point at the south (Cape Horn, Cape Good Hope, Island 
of Tasmania). 

Peninsulas. — Each of the two great northern plains is 
flanked on either side by a peninsula. These are Alaska and 
Labrador in America ; Scandinavia and Kamtchatka in Eurasia. 

Each of the three northern continents terminates southward 
in three peninsulas : North America in Florida, Central America 
(except for the narrow Isthmus of Panama), and California. 
What are the southern peninsulas of Europe ? Of Asia ? The 
three southern continents have no peninsulas. 

Questions upon Continental Relief and Climate. — Does the average 
elevation of the land increase or diminish from the equator to the poles ? 
What would be the consequence were this reversed ? 

Compare the relief of North America and South America. 

309 



310 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

What would be the effect upon Europe if the Alps extended from 
Gibraltar to the Strait of Dover ? 

Compare the Alps and Himalayas. Compare the relief of Austria-Hun- 
gary and of Germany. What distinguishes the relief of Russia from the 
rest of Europe ? Compare the relief of Spain and of Italy. Compare 
southern Europe with southern Asia. 

Compare the relief of the Scandinavian peninsula and South America. 

Do mountain ranges running east and west have greater or less influ- 
ence on the character of people than those running north or south ? 

If Europe were located on the east of Asia what would its climate 
be? 

What would be the effect on the climate of Europe if the Alps ran east 
and west through Belgium ? 

What would be the effect on the climate of South America if the Andes 
passed along the Atlantic coast ? 

What would be the effect on the climate of North America if the Rocky 
Mountain system extended along the Atlantic coast ? 

What would be the effect if the 4t Height of Land " at the head of the 
Mississippi were as high as the White Mountains of New Hampshire ? 

What would be the effect on North America if the Mississippi were but 
500 miles long and the Mackenzie were increased correspondingly in 
length? 

124. Plains and Valleys. 

The plains and valleys. of the earth are the parts where most 
people live. There are a few mining regions among the moun- 
tains where in a little space is gathered a large number of 
people, bnt populous regions are generally plains or valleys. 

Sea Bottoms. — Many plains were once the bottom of the 
ocean, and have become a part of the land surface of the earth 
by being uplifted. The great northern plains of North America 
and of Eurasia are examples. The central plains of North 
America and of South America, the Sahara in Africa, and the 
Caspian Basin in Eurasia, are other examples. 

Lake Bottoms. — Some plains are old lake beds. What can 
you recall of Lake Agassiz? Have you found the "iron 
gate " mentioned on p. 000 ? Once the Carpathian Mountains 



PLAINS AND VALLEYS. 311 

enclosed a great lake above this point, but the Danube cut a 
passage through the mountains and drained the lake. Its bed 
is now the fertile plain of Hungary. What example of such a 
plain is there in the western part of the United States ? (See 
p. 000.) 

Since, streams carry sediment into the upper end of lakes, 
and also cut away the channel at the lower end, the tendency 
of rivers is to destroy the lakes through which they run, and 
there are, therefore, many old lake bottoms within the valleys 
of some rivers. 

Wind-filled Valleys. — When the climate of a region becomes 
drier than formerly the wind carries the fine soil to great dis- 
tances and fills up depressions with the dust. In China are 
many plains formed of rich yellow dust, and these plains are 
wonderfully fertile. 

Prairies. — In the United States the prairies were once sea 
bottom ; but during the ice age some of them became the 
bottoms of freshwater lakes receiving the sediment borne 
southward by the movements of the great ice cap. 

Coastal Plains. — Around continents and islands there are 
usually shallow wastes for some distance oceanward to a line 
at which the water becomes rapidly deeper. This rather 
shallow margin of the oceans is sometimes called the " con- 
tinental shelf." 

Down upon this continental shelf, the wind and waters bear 
the waste from the higher interior. This waste fills the shal- 
low waters in places and extends the coast outward. The 
plain thus formed is called a coastal plain. What example of 
such a plain can you find in the United States ? 

Lava Plains. — The outflow of lava from volcanoes has some- 
times been so great as to make great plains of lava. In the 
western part of the United States, in the valley of the Sho- 
shone River of southern Idaho, is an example. Nearly one-third 
of India is an old lava field. Are lava plains fertile ones ? 



312 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



125. Lakes and Rivers. 

Where is the lake region of North America? Of South America? Of 
Europe? Of Asia? Of Africa? Of Australia? Are these lakes in hot 
regions or cool regions? Between what parallels of latitude do most 
lakes lie? 

As lakes grow older they usually become smaller. Why? As rivers 
grow older they usually become longer. Why ? As mountains grow 
older they usually become lower. Why? 

If a lake is long and narrow, do you infer that it is deep or shallow? 
Are its shores steep and perhaps mountainous or is it a lake in a plain? 

Which of the three great rivers of South America is of the most value 
commercially? What rivers of Asia are of greatest commercial impor- 
tance? In which continents are the rivers of most commercial value? 

Is a brook more winding in a hilly or in a level country? Do rivers 
drain the land or water it? 

Compare Asia and Europe as to their river systems. 

What rivers of Asia would you suppose liable to disastrous inunda- 
tions? 

What large rivers flow in nearly the same latitude in all parts of their 
course? What large rivers flow in nearly the same longitude in all parts 
of their course? 

Which is the more valuable for commerce, the Amazon or the Missis- 
sippi? Consider latitude, basin, people. 

Interior Drainage. — Name the chief inland seas and lakes in 
the world and tell what rivers empty into each. 

The area drained into seas and lakes without connection with 
the ocean is in every continent of very considerable extent. 
In the United States the Great Basin has an area twice that 
of Colorado. More than half of Australia has its drainage to 
interior lakes. In Africa nearly the third part is so drained, 
and in Eurasia more than one-fourth of the vast domain pours 
its waters into seas and lakes from which they escape only by 
evaporation. 

The land drained to interior lakes and seas is greater in 
area than the drainage basin of the Pacific Ocean. 



COASTS AND SHORES. 313 

REFERENCES. 
Russell. Lakes of North America. 
Gilbert. Lake Bonneville. 

126. Coasts and Shores. 

Each, ocean has its own characteristic shores. The North 
Atlantic Ocean is the one with connecting seas and gulfs ex- 
tending far inland. Name the the seas, gulfs, and bays on the 
west of the north Atlantic Ocean. On the east. These make 
the north Atlantic the highway of commerce. What five seas 
on the western shores of the north Pacific ? What arms of 
the ocean north of the Indian Ocean ? Are there any impor- 
tant seas, gulfs, or bays south of the equator ? 

The Pacific coast of North America has two good harbors, — 
San Francisco and Puget Sound. Prom Oregon to Alaska the 
coast has a line of deep inlets separating long, narrow islands 
from the mountainous mainland. These islands are the con- 
tinuation northward of the Coast Range which the Cascade 
Range has crowded into the ocean. Puget Sound and the 
inlets north of it seem to occupy the northern end of the trough, 
which further south is the valley of Wiliiamette and the cen- 
tral valley of California. 

On the eastern coast of North America, Massachusetts Bay 
marks the junction of two kinds of shores. South of Massa- 
chusetts Bay, along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts to South 
America, the land not so very long ago rose above sea level, 
and hence retains in large degree the smoothness of the sea 
bottom. Parts of this coast have sunk again, though not so 
low as before, and parts seem to be sinking still. 

North of Massachusetts Bay the coast is older and more 
worn by river action. Along the coast of Maine the coast has 
sunk and allowed the ocean to run up into the valleys which 
the rivers had worn. The islands, bays, and tongues of land 
were made by the submergence of the original hilly shores. 



314 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

Fiords. — In Scandinavia the people call the deep, narrow 
inlets fiords, and it is becoming the custom to give them the 
same name in this country. In what part of North America 
are fiords found ? Which state of our country shows the best 
examples ? In what parts of Enrope are there many fiords ? 

Where there was a wide plain near the sea, and the valleys 
in this plain were very broad and shallow, then the sinking of 
the land and the incoming of the sea made a different kind 
of bay, such as we find along the Atlantic coast in Delaware, 
Chesapeake, and Mobile Bays, and Pamlico and Albemarle 
Sounds. The harbors at the mouths of rivers along the 
Atlantic coast have been formed in the same way. 

127. Islands. 

The islands of the world may readily be divided into two 
classes : (a) those near the continents or connecting the con- 
tinents, and (b) those far from the continents in the oceans. 
The first class may be called continental, the second oceanic. 
In structure, climate, vegetation, and animal life, continental 
islands are like the continents near which they are. They 
appear to be mountain tops or plateaus that have been raised 
along the side of the continents or between them by the 
same forces that have raised the continents themselves ; or 
they appear to be the tops of lands whose bases have been 
submerged by the sinking of the land. If North America 
should sink a few hundred feet, the Appalachian Mountain 
system would become a long island; if the submergence 
were greater, it would become a series of islands such as we 
now find on the east coast of Asia, between North and South 
America, between Asia and Australia, and between Asia and 
North America. 

The Grecian Archipelago is another example of islands that 
appear to be mountain tops whose bases are submerged. 



EFFECT OF LATITUDE. 



315 



Oceanic islands appear to have been thrown np from the 
bottom of the ocean by volcanic action, or to have been built 
up by corals. 

128. Climate. 

Temperature. — The temperature of a place is influenced by 
several conditions : 1. Its elevation. 2. Its distance from the 
sea. 3. Its slope. 4. Its location with reference to other land. 
5. The prevailing winds. 6. The moisture of its atmosphere. 
7. Its vegetation. 

What is the average temperature in the hot belt ? In the subtropical 
belt ? In the warm temperate ? In the cool temperate ? In the Arctic ? 
Where are each of these belts ? 



130. Effect of Elevation. 

What is the average temperature at the base of a mountain 
upon the equator ? How high must you ascend the mountain 
before the temperature becomes that of 20° north latitude ? 
30°? 40°? 50°? 60°? Would the elevation whose tem- 
perature corresponds to that of 60° north latitude be found 
on many mountains in the torrid zone ? 

Feet 




EQUATOR 



N. POLE 



Fief. 8. 



Make a drawing of a mountain in the torrid zone, and indicate the 
temperature at different points along its sides. Do the same with a 
mountain at 20° north latitude ; 30° ; 40° ; 50° ; 60°. Find mountains to 
which your drawings will nearly apply. 



316 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

Water freezes or ice melts at 32°. If the temperature of a 
mountain top in July and August were above 32°, would the 
snow and ice melt ? If the temperature were less than 32° in 
the hot months, would the snow remain during the year? 
How high must a mountain in the torrid zone be to be snow 
capped in summer? 

(80° - 32° = 48°. 300 ft. x 48 = 14,400 ft.) 

131. Effect of Moisture. 

If there is an abundance of watery vapor in the air, this 
holds the heat that is escaping from the earth during the 
night, and prevents the excessive cold. If there is little 
vapor in the air, the he&t of the earth escapes freely into 
space, and the temperature falls very low. This is the reason 
why cloudy nights are warmer than clear nights. Are the 
nights cold in desert regions? 

Watery vapor, whether invisible or in the form of fogs and 
clouds, shields the land during the day from the intense heat 
of the sun, and during the night prevents the escape of heat 
from the earth, and so maintains more nearly uniform the 
temperature of the day and of the night. 

In continental climates the range of temperature is great, 
and the rainfall small; in maritime climates the range of 
temperature is small, and the rainfall great. 

QUESTIONS. 

It is a general rule that the temperature decreases from the equator 
toward the poles. Why is this ? 

As the elevation of a place is greater, the temperature is less. Why is 
this ? 

As a general rule the interior of a continent is hotter in the summer 
and colder in the winter than the coasts. Why is this ? 

In latitude 30° to 60° which side of a continent is the warmer, the east 
side or the west side ? 



WINDS 317 

Is the east side or the west side between 30° north and 30° south the 
warmer? (See map of Isotherms.) 

Which is colder, Norway or Sweden ? Why ? How much ? Which is 
colder, the British Isles or Labrador ? Why ? How much ? Which is 
colder, the British Isles or Kamchatka ? Why ? How much ? Which 
is colder, San Francisco or New York ? Why ? How much ? Which is 
colder, France or China in the same latitude ? Why ? How much ? 

Did you find the difference in temperature between San Francisco and 
New York greater or less than that between France and northern China ? 
Why is this ? 

Maritime climates are equable ones. Why ? The most equable cli- 
mate in the world is that of the Friendly Islands, where the difference 
between the hottest and the coldest months of the year is only 2°. 

At Yrkutsk in Siberia the winter temperature is -40° and the suiiil °* 
62°, the range of temperature being 102°. Sometimes at Yrkutsk the 
winter temperature goes down to -58° and 'the summer rises to 99°. Is 
it as hot as that at the equator ? 

Name several things that effect the temperature of a place. 

Is the climate of northern Asia warmer or colder than its latitude 
would indicate? Why? How is it with central Asia? Southern? 
Western Europe? Western North America? Chile? Labrador? Mex- 
ico? Cape of Good Hope? Cape Horn? 



132, Winds. 

If the earth were at rest arid, received no heat from the sun, 
it would be surrounded by the air to an equal height in all 
directions, and the air would be perfectly still. There would 
be no wind. 

Effect of Sun's Heat — The equatorial regions of the earth 
are most warmed by the sun, and the air surrounding these 
regions is most expanded by the heat. 

Let us for the present think only of the expansion of the 
air by the sun's heat, and consider what effect it would have. 
This expansion would raise the air over the equatorial regions 
into a belt thicker (higher) than the air in other parts of the 
earth, and the air of the upper portion of this belt would roll 



318 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

off toward the poles. This would increase the amount of air 
over the polar regions, and hence make the pressure there 
greater. The greater pressure of the air over the poles would 
crowd the heavy polar air towards the equator along the 
earth's surface. This would result in a movement in the 
upper region of the air from the equator towards the poles, 
and in the lower region next the earth's surface from the 
poles toward the equator. 

The warm air rising from the torrid zone soon becomes 
cooled in the cold upper regions into which it passes. It be- 
comes at length colder and heaver than the surface air below 
it. Because it is heavier than the air below it, it descends to 
the surface instead of going on to the pole. A considerable 
part of it takes its place in the surface current moving toward 
the equator, while the remainder flows toward the pole on the 
earth's surface. By observation it is found that this descent 
takes place at about 30° on each side of the equator, varying 
with the season of the year. 

Between 30° and 60°, we find a surface current sometimes 
north and sometimes south, according as the north-moving or 
the south-moving current is the stronger. This is therefore 
the region of variable winds. 

In these regions the prevailing winds are westerly. Most 
of the United States is in the region of the variable winds. 

When the air moves along the surface of the earth, we 
notice the wind it makes, but we do not notice its move- 
ment when it rises or falls. 

Near the equator, the cooler and heavier air is coming in 
currents from the north and the south along the surface of 
the earth. These currents we feel and call them winds, but 
the ascending of the warm air we do not notice, and we call 
it a calm. 

When the air descends at about 30° from the equator, there 
is little surface movement, and then, also, there are cairns. 



WINDS. 319 

So there are three calm belts around the earth, — the Equa- 
torial Calnis, the Calms of Cancer, and the Calms of Capri- 
corn. 

Observation shows that these calm belts are no one of 
them fixed in position, but are a few degrees further north 
in our summer than in our winter. 

Effect of the Earth's Rotation. — Let us now consider how 
the rotation of the earth affects these air currents. 

The earth turns on its axis once in twenty-four hours, and 
as the circumference of the earth is about 25,000 miles, it must 
move at the equator at the rate of more than 1000 miles an 
hour from west to east. 

At the poles its motion eastward is nothing, and near them 
it is slight. The air is a part of the earth, and moves with it. 
Every particle of air will, unless something prevents, mov^e 
from west to east at the same rate as the ground beneath it 
moves. The wind coming along the earth's surface, from the 
north and the south toward the equator, will have also a small 
movement toward the east, but, as it approaches the equator, 
it will pass over lands and seas having a much more rapid 
motion eastward than itself. These lands and seas will be 
carried by their more rapid eastward movement on through 
the air currents moving toward the equator. This makes the 
air appear to be coming from the east, and we shall have 
north of the equator a northeast wind, and south of the 
equator a* southeast wind. 

These regular winds are called trade winds because they 
are so serviceable to those carrying on trade by sea. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS. 

What movements in the air does a bonfire cause ? Would we have 
wind if we had no sun ? What part of the earth is most heated by the 
sun ? Why does this cause wind ? 

Why does not the air moving in the upper current north from the 



320 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



equator continue to the north pole ? What does it do instead ? Where 
are the three calm belts ? 

What effect does the rotation of the earth have on the winds blowing 
toward the equator ? 

What are the trade winds ? Where are the trade winds found ? 
What part of the earth's surface is covered by them ? What gives them 
their movement toward the equator ? What gives them their westward 
movement ? 

Why is there an equatorial calm belt ? How wide is it ? Does it 
remain constantly on the line of the equator ? Where is it located at 
different seasons of the jear ? Is this calm belt a region of great or little 
rainfall ? Why ? 

Are the calms of Cancer and of Capricorn just on these circles ? 
Where are they ? What causes them ? 

Trace the trade winds from the calms of Cancer and of Capricorn to 
the calms of the equator. Where is the region of variable winds ? 
Where are the monsoons ? Explain their origin. In what direction do 
they blow ? Compare the trade winds and the monsoons. 



133. Ocean Currents. 



The water of the frigid zones is very cold, while that of the 
equatorial regions is made warm by the sun. This in itself 

creates a circulation of 
the waters. The follow- 
ing figures will illustrate 
the conditions and show 
the circulation that will 
result. 

The colder and heavier 
waters of the polar re- 
gions constantly tend to 
sink below and move 




Heat causing upward and. 
downward currents. 



Fig. 14 a. 




Ice causing downward and 
upward currents. 

Fig. 14 b. 



under the warmer and lighter waters of the torrid zone. These 
waters so raised up will, of course, roll off to the north and 
to the south of this central ridge. The currents of the air 



OCEAN CURRENTS. 



321 



are also a force still more effective than change of temperature 
to move the surface waters of the ocean. 

There is for about 30° each side of the equator a general 
westward movement of the air caused by the trade winds 
having a westerly movement. This air movement over the 
broad ocean produces a correspondent water movement toward 
the west. When those currents reach the continents they 
divide, a part moving to the north and a part to the south 
along the shores. 

When the equatorial current turns to the north or to the 
south, it has the earth's movement eastward of about 1000 



Polar] Conditions 



Tropical \ Conditions 



ICE 



i 



/ 



Seated 



(. ( ~^~^ Plate 




Fig. 14 c 

miles an hour. When it has gone some distance north or 
south of the equator it reaches a part of the earth moving less 
rapidly eastward than itself, and hence it goes eastward faster 
than the ocean bed over which it is moving ; that is, it bends 
eastward and becomes a northeast current on one side of the 
equator, and a southeast current on the other side of it. Soon 
after curving eastward it reaches the region of westerly winds, 
and these winds assist the movement of the current. 

Pacific Currents. — The equatorial current of the Pacific 
divides into two principal branches, of which one strikes upon 
the coasts of China, turns northward to Japan, and thence 
eastward to North America, a part, however, branching south- 
ward. The other branch of the Pacific current bathes the 



322 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

eastern shore of Australia. What effect upon the climate do 
these warm currents have ? 

Gulf Stream. — The trade winds on the Atlantic drive the 
heated surface water lying between South America and Africa 
westward to the shores of South America. The eastern pro- 
jection of South America turns a portion of this westward cur- 
rent northward into the Gulf of Mexico. Here it fills the 
Gulf fuller and is still further warmed. The Gulf of Mexico 
is the world's great tea-kettle with hot water ever ready, and 
the Straits of Florida furnish the spout by which the water 
that is all the time poured in may escape. This escaping cur- 
rent is the Gulf Stream, and it has at the Straits of Florida a 
rate of motion of four miles per hour. This water is distinctly 
warmer than the other waters of the Atlantic, is of a different 
color, and runs northeast along the southern coasts of the 
United States. This stream is very broad and deep, and 
carries many times more water than all the rivers of the earth. 
It is a little higher than the ordinary level of the ocean, and 
its edges are easily found. It carries more heat into the north 
frigid zone than all that comes there directly from the sun. 

It sends off a branch to the west coasts of France and Eng- 
land, that makes Ireland a green isle in the latitude of frozen 
Labrador, but its greater portion passes by Great Britain and 
Ireland to seek the polar regions. 

Cold Currents. — At the same time that these three oceans 
carry westward hot currents, there are cold currents entering 
these oceans from the north and the south to complete the 
circulation. 

In the Pacific Ocean the current of Humboldt, coming from 
the south, passes up the west coast of South America past 
Chile and Peru, and makes its influence felt almost to the 
equator. It is at length taken into the westward equatorial 
current. 

In the Indian Ocean a cold current enters from the south 



OCEAN CURRENTS. 323 

along the west coast of Australia, and moves northward until 
drawn into the westward movement of the waters, and at last 
makes its exit by the Mozambique current. 

The South Atlantic receives a cold current along the west 
coast of southern Africa, which moves northward until it 
strikes the western drift. 

From Greenland southward along the eastern coast of North 
America a cold current sets south, laden with icebergs. These 
icebergs, like a great fleet of white-winged ships, move south- 
ward, until off Newfoundland they meet the warmer current 
moving northward, and are conquered by it. These icebergs 
cool the east wind of the New England states. 

A stream of cold water also issues from Baffin's Bay and 
Hudson Strait, and passes the Labrador coast, Newfound- 
land, Nova Scotia, Maine, and Massachusetts as far as Cape 
Cod. Here it is diverted seaward, and it sinks under the Gulf 
Stream and disappears. 

Direction of Currents. — You can remember that ocean cur- 
rents and air currents (winds, storms, cyclones) turn to the 
right north of the equator, and to the left south of it. 

The general circulation of the air is the same as that of the 
waters, except that the winds move in wider sweeps than do 
the ocean currents, for they cover land as well as sea. 

Sargasso Seas. — As there are regions of very little wind, so 
there are parts of the ocean where there is very little current. 
There are great stretches of sea around which the currents of 
the ocean move. These places are called Sargasso Seas. 
Sargasso is a Portuguese word, meaning seaweed. 

There are five sargasso seas. Where are they ? 

Name the currents that move about each of these seas. 

What do you notice about their latitude ? These seas are 
centers around which the winds circulate as well as the ocean 
currents. Describe the circuit of the winds about each of 
these seas. 



324 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS. 

Explain how the differences of temperature in the oceans create a 
circulation of the ocean waters. 

What effect on the currents of the oceans do the trade winds have ? 

Describe the Gulf Stream. What causes this stream ? What influence 
has it on the climate of Europe ? 

Describe the great equatorial current of the Pacific Ocean. In what 
part of the ocean do the warm currents move westward ? Eastward ? 

Where is the cold current along the coast of North America ? South 
America ? See the effect of the currents on the hot belt of the earth 
shown on page 24. Is the amount of water carried by the cold currents 
greater or less than that carried by the warm currents ? 

Notice that all the cold currents from the south move along west 
coasts northward while cold currents from the north move along east 
coasts southward. How do you account for this ? 

What current assists a ship sailing from the shores of Brazil to Cuba ? 
What current assists a ship sailing from the shores of China to San Eran- 
cisco ? 

Where are the five sargasso seas ? 

134. Rainfall. 

The warmer the air is, the more moisture it can hold. When 
air is cooled, it can hold less moisture than before, and if it is 
cooled enough, some of the moisture falls in dew or rain. 

The amount of moisture which the air can hold increases 
much faster than the temperature rises. When the ther- 
mometer rises about 18°, the capacity of the air for mois- 
ture is doubled; that is, it can hold twice as much moisture 
as before. If air at 78° were saturated with moisture, what 
would happen if the temperature of the air should be brought 
down to 60° ? 

When moist air ascends, it cools, and the vapor it contains 
is condensed first into fog or mist. The fog drops are of dif- 
ferent sizes and are carried upward by the ascending current 
of air. The smaller drops are carried faster than the larger 






RAINFALL. 325 

ones, and so the drops strike together and unite until they 
become too heavy to be longer carried upward, and then 
they descend as raindrops, enlarging as they fall. The 
stronger the upward current, the farther upward the drops 
are carried, and the larger they become before reaching the 
earth. There is no rain, though there may be fog or mist, 
without an ascending current to gather the small particles 
into larger ones. 

The evaporation from the ocean's surface in the torrid zone 
is about one-fourth of an inch a day. The greater portion of 
this vapor is carried by the trade winds into the region of 
equatorial calms. The moisture brought to this belt enters 
the column of rising air, and is carried upward into the cooler 
air. This cool air condenses the moisture of the ascending 
warm air, and it falls in heavy rains. 

The cloudiness of the sky defends the earth against the 
sun's heat, and the downpour of the cool rain lowers the 
temperature. This is in part the explanation why it is not 
warmer in the regions near the equator than at some degrees 
north and south of it. 

If the evaporation from the sea's surface returned in rain to 
the surface from which it came, the average rainfall would be 
the same in amount as the average evaporation, or one-fourth 
of an inch daily. This would be about 90 inches annually or 
1\ feet. But since this vapor falls chiefly in the rain belt 
near the equator, the amount in many places is much in excess 
of this. The rain belt is not much more than 300 miles in 
width, but as this belt swings north and south through the 
year, it reaches during the year a much wider zone. When 
is the rain belt farthest north ? When farthest south ? At 
what seasons does it cross the equator ? 

" All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full : into 
the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return 
again." — Ecclesiastes i. 7. 



326 GRAMMAE SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



REVIEW QUESTIONS. 

Which holds the more moisture, warm air or cold ? How does an 
ascending current of air unite fog drops into raindrops ? Why is the 
region of equatorial calms a region of heavy rainfall ? What effect on 
the temperature does the rainfall in equatorial regions have ? Why ? 
Where are the regions of greatest rainfall ? 

All steep land slopes exposed to a sea wind are regions of great rain- 
fall. Why ? Where do you find illustrations ? See map. Do the east- 
ern or western slopes of the Andes have most rainfall ? Why ? What effect 
has this upon the vegetation of the valley of the Amazon ? Is the result 
the same at the southern end of the continent ? For what reason ? 

Think of a particle of water and trace it from the ocean back to the 
ocean again. 

In which zone is the greatest rainfall ? Least ? Think first, then look 
on the rainfall map to see. 

In the United States what are the directions of increased and decreased 
rain ? 

In temperate zones the larger rainfall is on the western coasts, in the 
torrid zone on the eastern. Give reasons why this is so. 

Which have the greater rainfall, the windward or leeward side of 
mountains or regions ? 

Compare the rainfall in the regions of the Alps and on the plain of 
Russia. 

Is a north wind over land a wet wind or a dry wind ? Why ? A 
south wind ? Why ? 

Are the trade winds wet winds or dry winds ? Why ? 

The best part of Africa is the southern part. Why ? Is this so with 
South America ? Why ? It this so with Australia ? 

Which is the better part of Australia, southeastern or southwestern ? 
Why? 

Which has the warmer climate, Quito or Para ? At which are the 
extremes of heat and cold greater ? 

What difference # is there between the climate of Europe and that of 
Africa ? What between that of Africa and that of Asia ? 

Where are the two regions of greatest rainfall in the United States ? 
Are these regions of great change of temperature during the year ? 
From one of these regions the rainfall diminishes toward the north ; from 
the other, toward the south. Explain why this is. 



DESERTS. 327 

135. Deserts. 

If a cold wind strikes a warm land surface, is the wind made 
warmer or colder? Does it take up moisture as it becomes 
warmer, or give it off? What effect on the land does this 
have? Does wind bring rain to lands warmer than itself or 
cooler than itself ? 

If a warm moist wind blows against the side of a mountain, 
what change in temperature takes place ? What change in 
moisture ? If it continues over the top of the mountain 
and blows down along the side and to the plains beyond, is it 
a rain bearing or a drying wind ? At about what latitude 
north and south of the equator have we found that the descend- 
ing equatorial air current strikes the surface ? Was this air 
warm or cold as it ascended from the equatorial regions ? Is 
it warm or cold as it descends ? What effect upon the tem- 
perature of this region does this current have ? What effect 
upon the moisture of the lands on which it strikes ? 

You will find desert regions in many parts of the earth at 
about 20° to 30° from the equator. 

A region is arid whenever the moisture from the ocean does 
not reach it or reaches it in small degree, whether because 
the ocean is far away, as it is from central Asia, or because all 
the rain borne by the winds has fallen upon the highland before 
reaching it, as is the case of the Pacific coast of South America 
and the mountain and plateau region of the United States. 

In such regions the temperature is usually high in the day 
time and cold at night ; the winters are severely cold and the 
summers are excessively warm. 

In each of the continents there is a certain portion that on 
account of wind currents and elevation does not receive suffi- 
cient rainfall for the growth of an abundant vegetation. If 
the rainfall is less than ten inches per year, the grasses do not 
grow ; and the region is desert. 



328 



GRAMMAB SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



In Europe there is no region that can be called actually 
desert. Europe is so small a continent and is so well situated 
with reference to winds and surrounding waters, that no por- 
tion receives less than the needful amount of rain. But central 
Russia, the great plain north of the Black Sea, is very nearly 
a desert region. 

149. The Seasons. 

The Movements of the Earth. — If the sun and the earth had 
no motions, it is evident that one side — one half — of the 
earth would be lighted by the sun, and the other half would 

be in darkness except for 
the light coming to it from 
the moon and stars. The 
side toward the sun would 
have perpetual day, and 
the opposite side, perpet- 
ual night. 

Let us now suppose the 

Flg * 15, earth to turn on its axis, 

and consider the effect. Suppose the axis of the earth to point 

as in the figure above, what difference would the turning make ? 

The rotation of the earth 
would not bring any parts 
of the earth into the light 
nor carry any into the dark- 
ness. The part toward the 
sun would be in perpetual 
day, and the other in perpet- 
ual night, even though the 
earth did turn on its axis. lg * 

If the axis had its direction as in this figure, every pa] 
of the earth would be turned toward the sun in each revol 
tion of the earth, and there would be day and night in every 





— (Direction of Sun's Centre 



and Line in Plane of 
Earth's Orbit 



THE SEASONS. 



329 




Direction of Sun's Centre 



and Line in Plane of 
Earth's Orbit 



part of the earth at every revolution. The time of one revolu- 
tion being twenty-four hours, we should have the days and 
nights everywhere equal throughout the world, and each 
twelve hours long. 

Inclination of the Earth's Axis. — If the earth turns in the 
direction represented by the arrow in figure 17, the point 
A, which is placed just be- 
tween the light and the 
darkness when the earth 
stands as in the figure, will 
move toward the sun for 
twelve hours, and then 
away from it for twelve 
hours, when it will have 
arrived again at the place Flg " l ' 

of beginning, but will never have escaped from the rays of the 
sun. So will it be with any place between A and A T . On the 
.contrary, the point B, which is in the darkness, will not come 
into the light at all, and every point between B and S will have 
perpetual night. A point like E, half way between JST and S, 
will be twelve hours in the light and tAvelve hours in the 
darkness. Points between A and E will be in the light more 
than twelve hours out of twenty-four, and points between E 
and B will be in the light less than twelve of every twenty- 
four. 

Let us now suppose the earth is the other side of the sun, 
and study the case once more. 

Will point N ever get into the sunlight ? How about point 
S? A? B? E? Points between A and JST? B and S? A 
and E ? E and B ? 

It has been found by observation that the earth moves 
around the sun once in a year, and that its axis always points 
in the same direction, as is illustrated by Fig. 18 on the next 
page. 



330 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



136. The Change of Seasons. 

On June 21 the position of the earth is the same as was 
shown in the last figure. The North Frigid Zone is in the 
light for the whole twenty-four hours. The North Temperate 
Zone is in the light more than half of every twenty -four hours, 
and the sun is nearly overhead. 

The South Temperate Zone receives light and heat but a 
small part of every twenty-four hours, and the sun shines very 
obliquely upon it. 




Fig. 18. 

The South Frigid Zone gets no light or heat at all when the 
earth is in the position we have mentioned, and of course is 
very cold, as is also the South Temperate Zone. 

The North Temperate Zone receives the greatest amount of 
heat that comes to it at any time of year, and it is early 
summer. 

If we study the conditions December 21 when the north 
pole of the earth is turned from the sun, shall we find the North 
Temperate Zone receiving much or little heat ? What season 
will it be ? What season in the South Temperate ? 

In April and September we find the axis of the earth in- 
clined neither toward nor from the sun, but the sun shining 
from pole to pole and all parts of the world receiving their 



THE CHANGE OF SEASONS. 



331 



average amount of heat. What season in the North Tem- 
perate Zone at each of these positions? In the South 
Temperate ? 

When it is summer in the northern hemisphere, what season 
is it in the southern ? When it is spring in the northern hem- 
isphere, what season in the southern ? How far north is the 
sun directly overhead at noon in June ? 

At what part of the earth is the sun directly overhead at 
noon on the 21st of December ? What season is it then in the 
northern hemisphere ? In the southern ? 

As the northern hemisphere grows warmer as long as it 
receives more heat from the sun than it radiates, or sends 
off into space, it follows that the weather continues to grow 
warmer for some time after the 21st of June. The middle of 
the warm season is more than a month after that date. 

The diagram below shows you when are the times of greatest 
heat, how the seasons compare in the northern and southern 
hemispheres, and how much 



30 i 

20 

10 



10 



/ ■ ':> 




further north and south the 
trade winds extend at one 
season of the year than an- 
other. 

The farther from the equa- 
tor, the longer are the days 
and the nights at different 
seasons of the year. At the 
pole the year is divided be- 
tween a night of six months 
and a day equally long. The night is lighted by the moon 
or by the aurora borealis, a wonderful light of varying forms 
and colors, of magical beauty. 

Why is the climate colder north of us than south of us ? 
Is the sun ever vertical in any part of the United States ? When does 
it come most near to being vertical in the United States ? At that time 



WINTER SPRING SUMMER AUTUMN 



SUMMER AUTUMN WINTER SPRING 



Fig. 19. 



332 GBAMMAB SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

which zone has no day ? Which no night ? At what places are the days 
then but a few minutes long ? At what places then are the nights but a 
few minutes long ? 

What is the " midnight sun " ? The name will tell you. Where is the 
4 'Land of the Midnight Sun " ? Describe the course through the sky of 
the midnight sun. 

When the sun is vertical at the equator, where is the midnight sun? 
Where when the sun is vertical at the Tropic of Cancer ? Where when 
the sun is vertical at the Tropic of Capricorn ? At this time where are 
the days and nights equal ? 

When are the days longer than the nights ? On the 22d of March 
where are the days and nights of equal length ? Where are the days 
longer than the nights ? 

On the 21st of December in which direction does the sun appear 
from Rio Janeiro ? 

Why are the days and nights so long within the Arctic Circle ? Where 
is the longest clay just 24 hours long ? Where is it six months long ? 



137. Influence of Climate on Man. 

Temperate regions are those best adapted to the develop- 
ment of civilization and to human progress. Neither in the 
Arctic nor in the equatorial regions has any civilization 
arisen. The North Temperate Zone has been the home of all 
the important nations that have lived in the past, as it i 
now the home of all the leading nations of the earth. 

In Arctic regions the struggle for existence is so severe 
and the long winter night so breaks up habits of industry, 
that men work spasmodically and endure hardships rather 
than labor steadily to overcome them. It is steady industry 
and foresight that produce wealth and comfort and lead to 
improvement in ways of living. 

On the other hand, the Amazonian forests, equatoria 
Africa, the East India Islands, are now, and always have 
been, the home of uncivilized people. Even the white mar 
in these regions degenerates. In a hot climate the heat 



DEVELOPMENT OF COMMERCE. 333 

enervates, and nature's products are sufficient for man's 
needs, so that he lacks both the disposition to labor and 
the necessity for labor. In order that a people may advance, 
generation after generation, population must be so dense that 
each man can give his effort to one kind of industry, in which 
he can become proficient and perhaps make improvements. 
So, no region given up wholly to pasturage has ever sup- 
ported a progressive people. Still less do hunting and fish- 
ing alone make a people rich and prosperous. For progress, 
a people's industry must be founded on agriculture, and then 
expanded into mining, manufactures, and commerce. 

What influence have deserts, plateaus, and mountains upon the separa_ 
tion of nations ? What mountain heights separate nations ? 

What influence have climate and relief upon the density of population 
in different parts of North America ? Which are the densely populated 
regions of the world ? 

Name the principal nomadic people. For what reasons have they pre- 
served this form of life ? 

Name the principal manufacturing people of the world. What are the 
causes of their superiority in this respect ? 

138. Commerce. 

Development of Commerce. — In the time of Solomon, 1000 B.C., 
the line of traffic was from India through Persia by way of 
Palmyra and Damascus to Jerusalem. Afterward the same 
line continued from Joppa and Tyre and Sidon, on the shores 
of the Mediterranean Sea, through to Greece, and later, to 
Rome. 

Another route was up the Euphrates to Trebizond on the 
Black Sea, and thence to Constantinople and Venice, or up 1he 
Danube to the interior of Europe and the ports of the Baltic 
and Black Seas. 

Trace these routes on the map. Which was the better sit- 
uated for commerce at that time, Venice or Genoa ? Why ? 



334 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

Tyre and Sidon were once the leading commercial cities of 
the world. The men of Tyre and Sidon established colonies 
all along the coast of the Mediterranean and circumnavigated 
Africa 600 years before the Christian era. 

They brought gold and silver from Spain, tin and copper 
from England, and carried the products of India and Babylon 
to every part of the then known world. 

Later, the commerce of Asia passed to Greece, and from 
Greece to Rome. 

Rome was the first power to strengthen her sway by build- 
ing good roads. These roads are even now found in every 
country in Europe, as well as in England. Though built for 
military purposes, they were used largely for commerce. One 
passed over the Alps to the Baltic Sea, another followed the 
northwestern coast of the Mediterranean to France and Spain. 
Another crossed the Alps and extended through France to the 
Netherlands. 

After the fall of Rome, the Dark Ages followed, and com- 
merce died out in Europe. 

The Mediterranean and Baltic were the home of piratical 
crafts. 

The Crusades proved to be the means of introducing to 
Europe a higher civilization. Venice and Genoa furnished the 
ships to carry the armies to the Holy Land, and their naval 
enterprise extended until they sent their ships to every part of 
the Mediterranean. They founded colonies in Asia Minor and 
in the Crimea. They controlled the commerce of Asia and 
Europe and became the richest cities of the world. At length 
the Crusades ceased, and the victorious Turks took possession 
of Constantinople in 1453. 

The obnoxious Turks then controlled all the routes between 
Europe and southern Asia. 

It was the commerce of India that lured Columbus to the 
shores of the New World. Where Columbus failed, the Portu- 



COMMERCE. 335 

guese succeeded by sailing around the Cape of Good Hope to 
India. For a short time Portugal was the richest country of 
Europe. The ships of England and the Netherlands followed 
this new route, and the commerce of the Orient passed into 
their hands, for though farther from Asia, they were nearer 
the markets of Europe. 

The trade of the Netherlands which had been mainly over- 
land with Venice, became less and less as Venice and Genoa 
lost their hold upon the Orient. At length Antwerp, having 
an excellent harbor and opportunities through deep and con- 
venient rivers for interior trade, became a commercial city, 
and the trade of the Netherlands revived. It was the finest 
city in Europe, excepting Paris, and became the commercial 
center and banker of Europe, as London now is. Manufac- 
tures of Belgium and the Netherlands, which had been known 
for generations, were now vastly increased and distributed 
throughout the world. But the Thirty Years' War with Spain, 
which ended with the fall of Antwerp, the destruction of the 
city, and the heavy taxation imposed upon the manufactures of 
the Netherlands, greatly crippled the power of that country, 
and the seat of trade was transferred to England, which is 
now the chief commercial nation of the Avorld. 

Though dependent upon America largely for her food sup- 
plies, she transports these in her own vessels. Her first mar- 
ket is India, and from India come her largest imports. Next 
to these are those from the United States. 

Marseille, Venice, and Trieste are getting possession again 
of a considerable portion of the trade of southern Europe with 
the East ; and Russia is seeking a way to India and China by 
railroad from the Caspian Sea. 

The parts of the world having the most extensive commerce 
are the British Isles, western and southern Europe, the United 
States, and southeastern Asia from the Bay of Bengal to Korea. 

Look on the map and see what advantages you can discover 



336 GBAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

that these parts of the earth have over other parts. Think of 
the climate and products, of the indentations, permitting ships 
to reach harbors convenient to land and river transportation 
of the people and their industries. 

Are highlands or lowlands better for commerce ? Which 
have the greater agricultural products ? In which do the 
rivers and waterways afford the better means of transporta- 
tion ? Over which can railways be best built ? Through 
which can canals be constructed? 



139. Transportation and Routes of Commerce. 

Formerly the vessels carrying goods were owned by the merchants who 
used them. The skipper and importer and merchant were all one. He 
sent to China the products of his land, and brought back and sold silks, 
tea, porcelain, and bamboo goods. Now this is divided. One man or 
company owns the ships and brings the goods which the importer pur- 
chases. The importer sells the goods to wholesale houses, who in turn 
sell them to the retailers. There are agents, living at the foreign ports 
from which we obtain goods, who buy the goods the importer wants and 
send them to him by ship. The ships, too, are now owned by trans- 
portation companies, aud in most cases sail back and forth between 
certain ports. Several such ships make a "line," and sail regularly on 
certain days on their voyage. Ships not sailing back and forth in this 
way, but taking a cargo from one point to another, and then a new 
cargo to some other port, are called tramps. 

Ocean Highways. — There are certain courses across the 
oceans that have been found speedier and safer than others, 
and vessels follow these ocean highways in their voyages. 

Vessels going from New York to Liverpool do not steer 
straight across the Atlantic, but follow the course of the Gulf 
Stream. Coming back, they steer north of this stream, and 
get the benefit of the current flowing- south from Baffin's Bay, 
skirting Newfoundland and Cape Cod. 

Vessels sailing from Europe to South America or through 



TRANSPORTATION AND ROUTES OF COMMERCE. 337 

the Straits of Magellan to the Pacific follow the African coast 
as far as the coast of Guinea, where they turn westward, and 
go straight across the Atlantic to Brazil, then southward along 
the South American coast. 

Ship Canals. — That transportation by water is much cheaper 
than by land is a fact which influences greatly the location of 
cities. 

Of the sixteen cities in the United States having a popula- 
tion of 200,000 and upwards, all have water transportation ; 
and of the twelve cities having a population from 100,000 to 
200,000, all except Indianapolis and Denver are on navigable 
waters. 

The great ship canals of the world are St. Mary's in Michi- 
gan, the Suez Canal, the Manchester Canal, and the North 
Sea and Baltic Canal. 

The Erie Canal and the "Wellend Canal are examples of 
canals of great value, but not bearing the largest ships. 

Some proposed canals of importance are the Nicaragua, or 
Panama Canal, and the Kra Canal. 

The Kra Canal is a proposed canal across the Isthmus of 
Kra, connecting Malacca with Asia. It would be but 22 
miles in length, and would shorten by 1500 miles the distance 
between the Suez Canal and ports of China and Japan. 

For France it would be particularly useful, as her ships 
could go between her Asiatic provinces and Marseille without 
being compelled to stop at Singapore. 

What have you learned about the other canals ? 

QUESTIONS. 

Describe a voyage from Irkutsk to Canton. State the route and the 
articles carried for exchange. Describe a voyage from St. Petersburg to 
Trieste. Give an account of a caravan journey from Tripoli to Khar- 
tum. Describe a voyage from Marseille to Alexandria. 

Name the waters through which a vessel would sail from Canton 



338 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



to St. Petersburg. From London to Constantinople. From Venice to 
Sevastopol. 

What effect have the Alps upon the commerce of Europe ? Point out 
the advantages which are offered to commerce by the rivers of north 
Germany. What advantage to England is its insular position ? 

Make a comparison of the German ports of the Baltic and those of the 
North Sea as to opportunities for commerce. 

Which are the most important ship canals of the world ? Is the Suez 
Canal a help or a hindrance to the commerce of Venice ? What parts 
of the New World would profit directly or indirectly by a ship canal 
across the Isthmus of Panama ? 

REFERENCES. 

Nineteenth Century, March, 1894. 
Chautauquan, December, 1894. 
New Science Review, July, 1894. 



140. Great Cities of the World. 

The cities of the world having a population of more than 
half a million are named in the list below, and their popula- 
tion approximately given : 

Constantinople . . . 900,000 

Calcutta 850,000 

Bombay ..... 800,000 

Brooklyn 800,000 

Moscow 800,000 

Bangkok 600,000 

Glasgow 600,000 

Naples 500,000 

Liverpool 500,000 

Peking ..... 500,000 

China has several large cities that according to some authorities 
should be included in this list ; but their actual population is a matter of 
much uncertainty. 

How many cities in the world have a population of one million or 
more ? How many have a population between a half miilion and one 
million ? Which are the two largest cities ? Name the four cities hav- 



1. London . 








5,600,000 


11 


2. Paris 








2,500^000 


12 


3. Canton . 








1,600,000 


13 


4. Berlin . 








1,600,000 


14 


5. New York . 








1,500,000 


15 


6. Vienna . 








1,400,000 


16 


7. Tokio . . 








1,100,000 


17 


8. Chicago 








1,100,000 


18 


9. Philadelphia 






1,000,000 


19 


10. St. Petersbi 


lrg 






1,000,000 


20 



GREAT CITIES OF THE WORLD. 339 

ing a population of about one and a half million. Name the four cities 
having a population of about one million. How many of the twenty- 
great cities are in the United States ? In Great Britain ? In Europe ? 
In Asia ? In what part of Asia are all its very large cities ? 

All these cities, with one exception, have good harbors and 
communication by navigable streams or railroads with a large 
and densely populated agricultural region. 

How many of them are capital cities ? How many are on 
estuaries ? In what latitude do they lie ? 

Let us study some of the great cities of the world as we did 
the great cities of the United States, not so much to learn 
new facts about them as to learn why they have become great. 

London. — What reasons can you give why London has 
become a large city ? 

Paris. — Paris lies in a rich agricultural basin at the head 
of navigation of the Seine, and near the junction of several 
branches of this river. Havre is its harbor, and it is the 
only good harbor on the north of France having good rail 
and w r ater communication with the interior. The navigation 
of the Seine and its tributaries has been improved, and 
canals dug, so that Paris has the best system of interior water- 
ways in the world. 

About 900 years ago Paris became the capital of France. 
This brought into Paris many of the nobility and leading citi- 
zens of France. About 700 years ago the University of Paris 
was founded, and soon 20,000 students nocked to the city 
every year from all parts of France and surrounding coun- 
tries. What effect on the growth of the city do you think 
this has had ? 

Canton. — Canton is the chief commercial city of China, 
and was for 200 years the only city where foreigners were 
allowed to reside or do business. It has a fine harbor about 
70 miles from the sea, and a navigable river connecting it with 
rich interior provinces. 



340 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

Berlin. — Berlin is the capital of Prussia and of Germany. 
Though. Berlin is not located upon any navigable waters, it 
has excellent railroad facilities, and is the capital of a great 
empire. It has been an important city for 600 years. 

Its manufactures of cotton and linen, its great iron foun- 
dries, and its fine porcelain works, and recently its great rail- 
roads connecting it to the two highways of commerce, through 
the valley of the Oder running to the Baltic and the valley 
of the Elbe to the North Sea, have at length given it com- 
mercial importance. But of greater influence have been the 
court and the government offices, and its great university. It 
is the central and chief city of a great and thriving nation. 

Vienna. — Vienna is the capital of Austria, and is pleas- 
antly situated on the Danube, in the line of overland commu- 
nication between India and Persia with central Europe. The 
country making Vienna its center of trade has a varied cli- 
mate, and therefore varied products, which create an exten- 
sive domestic commerce. At Vienna occurs the only break in 
the chain of mountains separating the northwestern from the 
southeastern part of Europe. The valleys of the Danube 
and the Oder have formed a highway from the Black Sea to 
the Baltic. The route from the Adriatic to the Baltic inter- 
sects this route at Vienna. Vienna is the capital of a great 
empire, and so has grown in 600 years into a great city. 

Tokyo. — Tokyo, formerly called Yedo, has been the capital 
of Japan for 300 years. At first the nobles of Japan were 
compelled to reside half of each year within its walls. What 
effect on the city do you think this had ? It has a fine harbor 
at the head of a bay near the mouths of three navigable 
rivers. 

St. Petersburg St. Petersburg, like Berlin, owes its im- 
portance largely to the fact that an emperor and man of gen- 
ius determined to make it his capital. When and by whom 
was it founded ? This city lies farthest north of all the great 



GREAT CITIES OF THE WORLD. 34 1 

cities of the world — about 60° north latitude. It is the only 
Eussian city having extensive trade with northern and west- 
ern Europe. It is connected by ship canal with Cronstadt, its 
port, by railroad with the great cities of the empire and of 
Europe, and by canals with the interior of Russia. During 
the winter the transportation of goods by sledges is con- 
venient, and so inland communication is greatest at this time. 

Moscow. — Moscow is a very old city and was once the 
capital of Russia. 

Moscow lies in the black earth region of Russia, famed for 
its fertility, and in the midst of a dense population that 
needs a trading center. It is at the crossing place of roads 
from all quarters, — roads east and west and roads between 
the Caspian and the Baltic Seas. Here starts the great high- 
way to Siberia. 

Naples. — jSTajjles is one of the great cities of the world. 

Magnificently situated upon a fine bay affording a good 
harbor, and having an admirable climate, it is sought as a 
place of residence. Railways connect it with central and 
northern Italy, and it has steam connection with all the 
principal Mediterranean ports. 

Other Large Cities. — Explain why New York, Chicago, 
Philadelphia, Constantinople, Calcutta, Bombay, Brooklyn, 
Bangkok, Grlascow, Liverpool, and Peking have become great 

cities. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS. 

Why has Manchester in England recently spent a vast sum of money 
to make a ship canal connecting it with the Irish Sea ? What effect on 
Manchester will this have ? What effect on Liverpool ? What condi- 
tions favor Canton ? Venice ? Antwerp ? Bremen ? Baltimore ? St. 
Louis ? New Orleans ? Detroit ? Cleveland ? Buffalo ? 

What effect on the prosperity of Montreal have the Lachine Rapids ? 

Would Bremen and Hamburg be more prosperous than they are, or 
less so, if the rivers on which they are built emptied east of the penin- 
sula of Jutland instead of west ? 



342 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

Why is there not a large city at the head of the Gulf of Bothnia ? 

Singapore is at the extremity of a peninsula. Is this ordinarily a 
good place for a city ? Why is this city so located ? 

The voyage of Vasco da Gama, which discovered a passage around 
Cape Good Hope, was very injurious to Venice ? Why ? What effect 
on England did it have ? 

In what respects do the cities of China differ from our cities ? 

Describe some important cities of the Mediterranean. 

Which is best situated for commerce, — Barcelona, Marseille, Genoa, 
or Venice ? What are some of the advantages and disadvantages 
of each ? 

151. Growth of Continents. 

Wearing down of Land. — You have seen that water, in the 
form of streams, snow, ice, and waves, and aided by heat and 
cold and its power of dissolving minerals, is continually carry- 
ing down soil and rock from the mountains, hills, and plateaus, 
to the plains and valleys below and at length to the ocean. The 
wind also moves the soil and of tea carries one or two inches 
a day of light soil from a surface many miles in extent. If 
all this went on long enough without change, all the land 
would finally be brought nearly to the level of the ocean, all 
the lakes would be filled up, and the continents would become 
great plains sloping gently back from the ocean. 

Tennyson says — 

" The hills are shadows, and they flow 
From form to form, and nothing stands ; 
They melt like mists, the solid lands 
Like clonds they shape themselves and go." 

Would you not like to know how the mountains came to be 
and why they are not worn smooth by the waters and carried 
away to the ocean ? 

The Beginning. — The earth was at one time " without form 
and void." 



GROWTH OF CONTINENTS. 343 

The matter of the solid earth, of the waters and the air was 
one unseparated mass. But in time the air rose above the 
waters, and the materials of the rocks sank beneath them. 
There was then a world whose outside was one great ocean 
supported on the rock bed beneath it, with the air above it, but 
no land ; for God had not yet caused the dry land to appear. 

The earth was then very hot and was softer and larger than 
now. 

The exterior part of the earth cooled first and made what 
we call the crust of the earth over the hot interior, which then 
cooled more slowly than before, but still continued to cool. 

The interior of the earth is still exceedingly hot, but the 
space in which the earth moves is exceedingly cold, and it is 
believed that the whole earth is gradually cooling off. Since 
it is cooling, it is contracting or drawing together into smaller 
space. As the heated interior contracts, it draws away from 
the hardened crust of the exterior and allows this crust to 
sink down in places. As the crust falls in upon an interior 
smaller than before, it is too large to fit the interior, and 
wrinkles and cracks as it sinks downward. 

The bed of the ocean is the part of the crust which has thus 
sunk, and the land is that part which has projected above the 
waters. The first land projecting above the waters became 
the beginning of the continents. 

The sinking of the ocean basins produced an enormous side- 
wise pressure along the borders of the continents which caused 
the land at some distance from the shore to give way and 
make an upward fold. The depressions of the ocean beds 
have had mainly a north and south direction, and so the 
continents have taken the same general direction with a large 
wrinkle or mountain range on the side of the greater ocean, 
which has, of course, exerted the greater pressure sidewise 
as its basin has sunk. 

This rising and sinking of the land is still going on. 



344 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

The land and the sea do not remain always at the same 
height with reference to each other. In some places we find 
sea beaches in the sides of the mountains near the sea. At 
others, as on the coast of Greenland, we find stone buildings 
now partially submerged by the ocean. What does this show ? 
All the southern coast of Scandinavia, with the Netherlands, 
Belgium, and northern France, appears to be at present slowly 
sinking, while northern Scandinavia and the west coast of 
South America is slowly rising. 

The west coast of North America has also risen recently. 

In New Jersey and Long Island we can see that the water 
is year by year making its way farther in upon the land, de- 
stroying farms and fashionable watering places. This part of 
the earth's crust is sinking. 

The map on page 000 of Part II shows you which coasts are 
now rising and which are sinking. 

Highlands of the Continents. — These changes of level may 
be slow and imperceptible or sudden and startling. 

Most of such changes are very slow and go on a long time. 
You must think of mountain ranges as rising very slowly, a 
foot or two in a year, for thousands of years. 

Probably the highest ranges are now rising about as fast as 
they wear away. Lower ranges are probably not now rising, 
but are slowly wearing down. 

The Laurentian highlands, the oldest mountains of North 
America, are now quite low. 

It was formerly thought that all mountains had been pushed 
up from below, that the earth's surface had been tossed into 
great billows by some vast force underneath, and that the 
mountain ranges were the crests of these earth waves, while 
the valleys were the hollows between them made by the sink- 
ing of the crust. 

If we think of this as coming about slowly, this view is 
nearly the truth as to the principal mountain ranges. 



GROWTH OF CONTINENTS. 345 

But many mountains and nearly all hills are formed, not by 
a force from beneath, but by forces around them, by the wear- 
ing away of the rocks by the action of water in the form of 
rain, frost, ice. 

Sedimentary Rocks. — When the layers of sediment depos- 
ited under water by rivers, waves, and currents have been sub- 
jected for a long time to great pressure by being buried deep 
under other layers deposited above them, changes, resulting 
from chemical action or from the heat of the interior of the 
earth, have taken place, and the layers of sediment have been 
changed into layers of rock. Such rocks are called sedi- 
mentary rocks because made from sediment, and they contain 
within them the remains of plants and animals that lay in 
the mud before it was changed to rock. These remains are 
called fossils. 

Nearly all the rocks of the United States are sedimentary 
rocks. 

Igneous Rocks. — The first rocks raised above the waters 
could not have been sedimentary rocks, for sedimentary rocks 
are produced from the wearing down of other rocks. The 
first rocks are those first cooled from the melted state, and 
are called igneous, a word meaning produced by fire. 

By finding the igneous rocks in any continent, we can learn 
what part of the continent first rose above the waters. 

Beginning of North America. — In our continent the first 
land was a mountain range, still existing, but much worn clown, 
that rose from the sea north of where the St. Lawrence now 
runs. 

Afterwards the Alleghany Mountains slowly raised their 
heads above the waters, forming an extension of the first 
wrinkle southward. 

North America then had the shape indicated in the figure 
below, in which the young continent is white and the waters 
are shaded. 



346 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 



In those early clays you could have sailed in any direction 
in the interior part of the United States over waters several 
hundred feet deep. There was land in the north around Hud_ 
son Bay, land on the Atlantic border, and long narrow islands 
in the Eocky Mountain region. 

That ancient Atlantic borderland we now call the Blue Eidge. 




Fig. 52. 

Beginning with the geography of North America shown by 
this figure, you must imagine time moving slowly on during 
long cycles of years. The rains fall upon the land just as 
they do now, washing it away, probably more rapidly ; and 
the waves of the ocean indent the coast lines. But you must 
also bear in mind that there was an upward movement of the 
crust, by which the land was continually lifted higher and 
higher, so that though the rains and the waves both wore away 
the rocky land, the continent grew larger. 



GROWTH OF CONTINENTS. 347 

Gradually the land grew broader, southward from Canada 
and Wisconsin, westward from the Blue Ridge. 

The waters of the Gulf Stream of those days moved through 
what is now the Gulf of Mexico, through the western Missis- 
sippi valley, along the western border of the great inland sea 
in a northwest direction to the Arctic regions. The steady 
warm currents, deflected up the region we now call the Ohio 
valley, produced conditions favorable to an abundant life. 

Limestone. — The life was largely that of soft animals having 
shells ; there were coral-forming radiates like those that make 
coral to-day, and there were starfishes and stone lilies, or 
crinoids. These were fixed to the sea bottom, and when 
they died they left their stony parts to be converted by the 
waters into limestone. This is the origin of the limestone 
which underlies the east central states, and mingling with the 
soil adapts it to-day to agricultural purposes. 

The Great Lakes. — While the Great Lake system did not 
always exist in its present shape and grouping, Lake Superior 
is very old, as is also a river system in the direction of the 
St. Lawrence. Lake Erie is the youngest of these lakes and 
may have been recently formed. 

Lake Superior Copper. — Iu this early period, there was an 
outburst of melted rock, which we call trap, underneath Lake 
Superior. The appearance of the rock shows it was discharged 
into water. Along Avith this molten rock came large quanti- 
ties of melted and dissolved copper, producing the now famous 
copper mines of the Lake Superior region. 

Salt. — At one time this great interior sea formed on its 
eastern border a shallow bay Avith great salt marshes extend- 
ing from central New York through Canada and even to 
Michigan. The waters of the salty ocean would sweep into 
this marsh or salt lake, evaporate, and leave the salt in the 
sediment of the lake, just as Ave iioav see done at Great Salt 
Lake. Afterward these salty layers were covered with stony 



348 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

deposits. The salt industries to-day of central and western 
New York, Canada, and Michigan have this origin. 

Natural Gas and Petroleum. — Finally there came to be a new 
ocean life, the fishes. The waters swarmed with life, animal 
and plant. The remains of these were buried in the muddy 
sediment of the inland sea, under the mass of rocky deposits. 
Afterward under this rocky blanket these animal and plant 
remains were distilled by the heat which came up from the 
interior of the earth, making the natural gas and petroleum 
which are now taken out of the earth for the use of man. 

Coal. — In the coal-making age a still more important and 
notable product was prepared for the needs of the human 
race. There had been a general upward tendency of the crust 
during the previous ages. During this age in portions of this 
inland sea, where previously lime-secreting animals nourished, 
the sea bottom rose so that the waters became so shallow that 
for long years the fresh water of the rains and of drainage 
from the elevated portions of the continent to the north and 
east of them produced a vast freshwater marsh. 

Vegetation also attained a luxuriant growth. Then the 
ground sank again, and the water of the sea came in, burying 
the dense forests under sand and other deposits. Even the 
lime-secreting animal life returned. For thousands of years 
the sea prevailed till many feet of deposits were formed over 
the submerged forests. Then the ground rose again, and 
another forest growth succeeded, followed by another long 
period of submergence, with again a subsequent elevation. 
With every submergence a layer of coal was formed. Such 
was the origin of our great coal areas. 

Iron Ore. — As swampy regions are favorable to formation of 
iron-ore beds, we are not surprised to find great beds of iron 
common in or near the coal areas. And so this valuable ore 
and the coal necessary to its reduction are conveniently near 
together. 



GROWTH OF CONTINENTS. 



349 



We call this period of activity in mountain growth the 
Appalachian Eevolution. It built the Appalachian ranges, 
and produced great changes in the climatic and in other condi- 
tions of the globe. As a consequence there were great changes 
in the animal and vegetable life. This was followed by a 
more stable condition, but recently in the Charleston earth- 
quake we see that the shrinkage of the earth is still producing 
a strain in that latitude. 

The Appalachian range from northern Alabama to Mount 
Washington is nowhere very lofty, not in the highest part 




Fig. 53. 



much over a mile. This is due to the wearing away by the 
rains, the snows, and the frosts that has been going on from 
the first. Had it not been for this they would be forty thou- 
sand or fifty thousand feet high. We may generally conclude 
that low ranges of mountains are the oldest. 

River Courses. — An interesting feature of mountain ranges 
is the river courses through them. Notice how the Hudson 
River coming down from Mount Marcy, of the Adirondacks, 
makes its way in sweeping curves amid lofty heights on either 
side. Whence comes the gorge through which the river finds 



350 GRAMMAR SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

egress to the sea ? The river is older than the mountains, and 
as these gradually arose, the running water by erosion main- 
tained the level of its channel and hence was not shut off by 
the rising highlands. 

Rocky Mountain Region. — While the Appalachian Mountains 
were forming, the Rocky Mountain region was a rather scat- 
tered archipelago with one or two very long islands. 

Finally, in the same manner as the Appalachians had been 
previously formed, the great Sierra range was produced. 

Later, the eastern margin of this continent was crumpled 
into a mountain range, the Wahsatch, which movement of 
course widened the land toward the east. 

At this time also, by the general elevation of the crust under 
the waters east of the Wahsatch, a still more important change 
in the growth of the continent was effected. For the waters of 
the Gulf of Mexico, which hitherto had flowed unchecked 
across the land from south to north, were excluded from the 
interior, and the two continents at last became one. The chan- 
nel which this broad stream had traversed for so many ages 
became the region of the plains. 

Alkaline Plains. — When the Gulf waters had been excluded 
from the interior of the continent, and the western part of the 
former Mississippi sea had thus become dry land, the plateau 
region continued for long ages to be occupied by great lakes 
or shallow bays. The final elevation of the entire Eocky 
Mountain region caused these bodies of water to disappear, 
but the ground was left either alkaline or salty, rendering it 
unfit for agricultural purposes. 

Mineral Deposits. — Another feature we may notice is the 
wealth of the west in valuable metals. Gold, silver, copper, 
lead, iron, and other metals exist in the rocks everywhere. 
But when the heated rock has come into contact with water, 
these metals are dissolved, and brought into fissures that may 
be formed in the rock. 



GROWTH OF CONTINENTS. 



351 



Underneath the mountains the heat is always present, and 
water, with heat and pressure, easily dissolves what ordinarily 
is not soluble. 

The movements of the crust producing the mountains pro- 
duce also the fissures ; the water, loaded with ores and other 
minerals in solution, goes into the fissures; the pressure and 
heat are removed by the uplifting, and the water then de- 
posits the metals and ores in the fissures. When by erosion 
of the rains and rivers these veins are exposed, we have a gold, 




Fig. 56. 

silver, copper, or other mine. The intensity of the action that 
has taken place in all the Eocky Mountain region is shown 
in the great number of rich mining districts throughout the 
entire length of the mountain system. 

REFERENCES. 
Dana : Manual of Geology. Le Conte : Elements of Geology. 

Shaler : First Book in Geology. Shaler : The Story of Our Continent. 
Canadian Magazine, July, 1893. 
Nature, January and February, 1894; March, 1893. 
American Journal of Science, March, 1894. 
National Geographical Journal, January and December, 1895. 
Natural Science, April and May, 1894. 



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